Europe’s leading ski resorts are facing an “existential crisis” in the coming decades as climate change threatens to permanently remove the snow covering their popular slopes.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says global warming has caused the zero-degree altitude at which snow lies to rise by 250 meters in the last 50 years.
By 2026, the Swiss climate scenario CH2018 predicts a rise in water levels of 400 to 650 meters by 2060.
This could jeopardize the current appearance of the ski slopes in Europe’s most popular ski resorts. The possibility of snow only falling above 1,500 meters would wipe out parts of the Swiss resort of Verbier and the French “Three Valleys” resort of Courchevel.
Global warming is causing the glaciers in the Alps to melt at record rates, threatening valuable ecosystems and wildlife in the region. The result could be economic catastrophe if ski-dependent towns lose their main attraction.
In order to counteract falling snow amounts, ski areas are already using artificial snowmaking systems, which also contribute to climate change due to their high energy consumption.
The WMO has launched a new partnership with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) to raise awareness of the existential threat to tourism and snow sports.
The FIS is based in the French ski resort of Chamonix, where some of its slopes would also be at risk from increasing snow depths.
“The climate crisis is obviously much bigger than the FIS – or even sport: it is a real crossroads for humanity,” said FIS President Johan Eliasch.
“However, it is true that, put simply, climate change represents an existential threat to skiing and snowboarding. We would be remiss if we did not make every possible effort based on science and objective analysis. This is what we want to pursue and what lies at the heart of this promising partnership with the WMO.”
In recent decades, snowfall on Europe’s ski slopes, particularly in low-lying areas, has become increasingly irregular.
Due to cold winters for skiing and hot summers for hiking, these areas have historically been a popular choice for wealthy travelers. But more extreme weather and less snowfall are putting them in trouble.
Several resorts were forced to shorten the length of their ski seasons as consistent snowpack arrived later than normal and abated earlier than in the past.
Last year Knight Frank reported that a growing number of wealthy buyers bought properties in the Alps, motivated in part by the increasingly hot temperatures closer to the equator.
However, three of the five buyers surveyed by Knight Frank said they were concerned about the impact of climate change on their resorts.