There are no climate-change deniers in the Alpine resort industry, only disagreement and worry over what can be done to preserve an industry that depends for its existence on winter visitors and skiing.
For many, it’s a two-pronged search, first for the technical advances that will enable more and better artificial snow making, at warmer temperatures, and second for new directions for resorts that will be heavily impacted, with predictions that snowfall in Europe in the coming years will be halved, and that most resorts below the 1200-metre mark may see none.
A recent Reuters report highlighted the issues as seen through the eyes of industry participants, and in particular the tourism director of Arosa, Switzerland, where a ski pass in winter is 79 Swiss francs, but a summer pass for the town’s tourism facilities is only 18 francs. The article is definitely worth a read!
