Snow, Slopes, and Snowmaking: Winter Tourism and Climate Change in Alpine Regions

The warming the planet is already reshaping winter landscapes. European ski regions, like Switzerland’s Alps, have seen snow cover shrink and the trails lose their glide. France and Austria close some slopes earlier in the season due to sparse snowfall. Spain is likely to follow as studies show a gradual decline of snow in the Pyrenees. New research from the University of Basel shows that snow alone may not save ski resorts from these changes.

Forecasts for the coming years point to more winter precipitation, yet much of it may fall as rain rather than snow. This does not stop substantial public and private investments aimed at expanding existing ski resorts and maintaining winter tourism.

From the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel, a research team led by Erika Hiltbrunner has calculated the economic value of the New Year snow season for a typical resort. Their scenario analyzes a ski season of at least 100 days with and without artificial snowmaking.

From the slopes, data were gathered on where snow forms at the resort and how much water is needed. The team used the latest climate projections with SkiSim 2.0 to model snow conditions with and without artificial snow. The study results appeared recently in a prominent international biometeorology journal.

Findings show that artificial snow can sustain a 100 day season on the highest elevations, approximately at 1,800 meters or higher. Yet the business will still face losses during the Christmas period in coming decades because temperatures often stay above the ideal cold threshold for reliable snowmaking before and during those dates.

Snow cannot guarantee on its own

If greenhouse gas emissions do not decline, even areas like Sedrun may lose guaranteed Christmas snow in the long run. Researchers note that new snowmaking technologies may help somewhat but cannot fully resolve the problem.

Many people do not realize that specific weather conditions are required for snow. Snowmaking works best when the air is not too hot and not too humid, so enough evaporative cooling allows water spray to freeze and fall as snow, explains a leading researcher.

Warm air carries more moisture, so as winters warm, artificial snow becomes harder to produce. In other words, physics sets clear limits on snowmaking.

Rising costs of snow production

Skiing may continue to rely on artificial snowfall to keep the highest slopes open for around 100 days, even under climate change, but the price tag will rise. The study projects a significant increase in water use for snowmaking, roughly 80 percent over an entire season.

In a typical winter toward the century’s end, roughly 540 million liters of water could be used, compared with today’s 300 million liters.

Nevertheless, researchers note that this increase remains modest when compared with other resorts. Earlier work shows water needs for snow in some areas could multiply several times because the snow-covered area must expand to ensure reliability.

Today, some water for snowmaking in the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis region comes from the Oberalpsee, with a maximum extraction of about 200 million liters annually. If climate change continues, that source may last only halfway through the century, and new supplies will be required.

The lead author, who is now at another research facility, explains that the Oberalpsee also feeds hydroelectric power. A potential conflict emerges between the water required for skiing and the needs of power generation.

What is certain is that increasing snow production will raise the cost of ski holidays. A researcher notes that middle-income households may struggle to afford frequent trips as prices rise.

Citation: Springer biometeorology text, recent peer-reviewed findings on snowmaking and winter tourism economics.

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