The snowfall in the Alps becomes more unstable from year to year. This harms winter tourism. But giving up is out of the question for piste operators.
It’s over at Jenner. The traditional ski area near Schönau am Königssee is giving up. “Alpine skiing on the Jenner no longer has a future,” said the Berchtesgadener Bergbahn. End of an era that lasted decades. On March 3rd, the cable car, which was newly built a few years ago, was supposed to take piste skiers to the mountain station at 1,800 meters for the last time. But even that wasn’t enough – it was too warm. February 18th was the last day on the slopes.
Will this be the future of other ski areas too? Last winter, lifts in Bavaria stood still in the middle of the Christmas holidays due to a lack of snow. According to meteorologists in Bavaria, but also in other Alpine regions, this winter was warmer than ever since records began in the 19th century.
Despite often double-digit temperatures, the Association of German Cable Cars and T-bar Lifts (VDS) has a positive outlook on the season, which started prematurely with early snow in some cases – and is now ending prematurely in some cases. Many German areas cannot achieve the goal of driving until Easter.
Making the mountain world attractive to tourists in winter
In return, guests can now “enjoy our unique mountain world even without snow,” says VDS board member Antonia Asenstorfer. You don’t want to give up. “We will continue to focus on Alpine skiing for the next few decades, along with additional offers for the whole family. These relaxing breaks in unique nature are incomparable and create valuable moments of happiness.”
Bavaria’s Ministry of Tourism emphasizes that winter tourism in particular has “outstanding economic importance for the destinations”. It includes not only alpine skiing, but also sledding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or ski touring. However, this also requires snow.
The amount of snow varies from year to year
The President of the German Alpine Association (DAV), Roland Stierle, like other experts, expects little guarantee of snow for lower areas in the long term. “It looks bad below 1500 meters.” The mountain stations in Bavaria are often that high.
On the other hand, things are looking good at the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain at 2,962 meters. There are still almost three meters of snow there. The lifts should run until the beginning of May. The winter season is increasingly divided into two parts. Green meadows below, plenty of snow at 2000 meters altitude. In Switzerland there is even more snow than usual this year, as the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos reports.
“Above 2,000 meters there are snow depths of 100 to 140 percent of the long-term average,” says SLF avalanche expert Lukas Dürr. However, there was little snow up there in the two previous winters. “One winter does not create a climate.”
Snow cannons are not a permanent solution
Scientists expect that ski tourism will shift upwards – and warn of consequences for sensitive high mountain nature. According to a study at the University of Bayreuth, 13 percent of ski resorts worldwide will lose their natural snow cover by the end of the century, assuming a scenario of high greenhouse gas emissions.
Even making snow is becoming more and more difficult, as it has to be around zero degrees. Nothing would work on many slopes without artificial snow. Of course, the white bands in green landscapes do not create a real winter feeling.
It seems as if interest in alpine skiing is waning in some places. Demand is declining, reported Jennerbahn board member Thomas Mühlthaler. By January 24th, almost 700 ski day passes had been sold – not enough to make the operation profitable. Tourism researcher Robert Steiger from the University of Innsbruck also sees a change. “There is already a certain trend away from seven-day full-throttle skiing.”
Austria, which has an advantage with higher altitudes, has invested heavily in order to continue making skiing possible. An estimated 35,000 snow cannons produce artificial flakes. Climate models show that the snow line will rise by another 200 meters by 2050, says Steiger. With snowmaking, 80 percent of the ski areas in Austria would still have snow. “However, the effort will increase significantly,” says Steiger. Storage ponds would have to be enlarged, pumping capacity increased and the number of snow cannons increased. The question is also which area can afford this and which guests want to pay the corresponding surcharge.
Conservationists criticize the use of snow cannons. “This winter is a foretaste of what will be the new reality in the future,” warns Richard Mergner, chairman of the Federal Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria. The cable car subsidies worth millions, especially in Bavaria, which also continue to support snow cannons and storage ponds, must come to an end. Sticking to old structures leads to a dead end.
Environmental associations welcomed the closure of ski operations on the Jenner. Toni Wegscheider from the nature conservation association LBV said a rethink was long overdue.
Looking for the final solution
This has also started elsewhere. Kitzbühel, for example, the “most legendary sports city in the Alps” according to its own definition, is preparing for climate change with strategy papers. “Winter hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing will sooner or later move to the mountains,” says Viktoria Veider-Walser, managing director of Kitzbühel Tourism.
In view of the development, it is important to prepare for a “hybrid mountain experience”, says Austria’s Tourism State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler. What was previously only possible in autumn and spring could now possibly also take place in winter.
Monika Bandi, co-head of the Tourism Research Center at the University of Bern, sees new opportunities for mountain resorts. “I think that the Alpine areas have the advantage of summer freshness in future very hot summers. They will suddenly become beautiful and attractive in November, also in terms of the season extension,” she told broadcaster SRF. The Sattel-Hochstuckli ski area in the canton of Schwyz at 1200 meters is already focused on summer, with an adventure park with a toboggan run, suspension bridge and revolving gondola lift.
The future? Some are experimenting with plastic ski mats, a kind of cross between artificial turf and doormats. They are used in smaller areas, for example for ski jumping. However, experts do not see this as a mass-market solution.