Climate Change Threatens Ski Industry, Leaving Slopes Bare

[sardog1]

NEWBURY, N.H. — Helena Williams had a great day of skiing here at Mount Sunapee shortly after the resort opened at the end of November, but when she came back the next day, the temperatures had warmed and turned patches of the trails from white to brown.

“It’s worrisome for the start of the season,” said Ms. Williams, 18, a member of the ski team at nearby Colby-Sawyer College. “The winter is obviously having issues deciding whether it wants to be cold or warm.”

Her angst is well founded. Memories linger of last winter, when meager snowfall and unseasonably warm temperatures kept many skiers off the slopes. It was the fourth-warmest winter on record since 1896, forcing half the nation’s ski areas to open late and almost half to close early.

Whether this particular winter turns out to be warm or cold, scientists say that climate change means the long-term outlook for skiers everywhere is bleak. The threat of global warming hangs over almost every resort, from Sugarloaf in Maine to Squaw Valley in California. As temperatures rise, analysts predict that scores of the nation’s ski centers, especially those at lower elevations and latitudes, will eventually vanish.


"Climate Change Threatens Ski Industry, Leaving Slopes Bare"

 

[TDawg]

Colder and snowier pattern leading up to Christmas and the end of the year. Things are looking up for resorts and winter trails!

 

[Brambor]

We Believe!

 

[eddie]

The jet stream in still hanging out in Canada. Like all Snowbirds, it'll head south soon. Have faith.

 

[roadtripper]

1/2 of New England's ski resorts will be gone in the next 10-15 years. Come back and check this thread in 2027 if you don't believe me

 

[Maddy]

1/2 of New England's ski resorts will be gone in the next 10-15 years. Come back and check this thread in 2027 if you don't believe me

I believe you. For any doubters do whatever it takes to seek the documentary film Chasing Ice.
It's disturbing and a real eye opener.
Skiing will be the least of our worries. We all need to smarten up and it can't happen one minute too soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZTMVNBjc4

 

[roadtripper]

I believe you. For any doubters do whatever it takes to seek the documentary film Chasing Ice.
It's disturbing and a real eye opener.
Skiing will be the least of our worries. We all need to smarten up and it can't happen one minute too soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZTMVNBjc4

I'm hoping to see it soon. It's playing at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Boston starting Friday (I think this is the only place in MA where it is going to be played)

Anybody care to join us?

 

[Maddy]

I'm hoping to see it soon. It's playing at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Boston starting Friday (I think this is the only place in MA where it is going to be played)

Anybody care to join us?

It is playing at Amherst Cinema. I saw it there on Monday. Don't know for how long. It was also playing in the Berkshires.

 

[Snowflea]

Saw it today in St. Johnsbury, VT. (Thank you, Catamount Arts.) Will have nightmares about moulins tonight. Spectacular time-elapsed footage of glacier recession. If a person doesn't believe after seeing it...

 

[rup]

So you believe a movie over real data?

 

[Maddy]

So you believe a movie over real data?

As Balog explained, people often have difficulty assimilating data. You see statistics, graphs, the mind wanders, and you find yourself trying to remember if you have a movie to watch this evening, or you are planning your next hike. That being said the film certainly caught my attention and I was totally absorbed and overwhelmed by it. I new glacier melting was serious but had not fully appreciated the real dimensions of it until I saw this footage. Balog put "life" in the data.

 

[rocket21]

1/2 of New England's ski resorts will be gone in the next 10-15 years. Come back and check this thread in 2027 if you don't believe me

The same predictions have been made for years. During lean years in the late 1990s/early 2000s, predictions were that there would be no ski areas left in Southern New England. Obviously not the case:
CT Ski Area Operations Timeline
MA Ski Area Operations Timeline
RI Ski Area Operations Timeline

The bigger threat to ski areas in the next 10-15 years is financial - taxes, debt, energy, green taxes/carbon credits/etc., water fees, etc.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I read an interesting article recently that said some ski areas had made themselves "snow-less proof" by adding activities like ziplines - the NYT article references these activities also. This other article indicated that some ski areas can now remain solvent even if there is no snow. So - maybe the prediction about the existence of ski areas has to rephrased.

As for whether glaciers are receding - some of us will deny we're are on fire even when we see the flames. Witness Carl Rove on Fox News on election night. It's hilarious, but we're all susceptible to that type of thinking.

If any are in the Banff/Jasper area, visit the Columbia Ice Fields visitor center, and see the retreat of the Alabatha glacier for yourselves. It's retreating rapidly despite 30-40' of snow each year. There are markers showing the retreat which begin in parking lot, some distance from the tongue of the glacier itself. Even after seeing it, I'm sure there are some who say it's all a hoax.

 

[Mac]

IMHO, it's not a hoax, glaciers have been retreating since the end of the last ice age (10-12 thousand years ago). The issues are around whether human activity is accelerating the process, and if so, by how much.

 

[Maddy]

I read an interesting article recently that said some ski areas had made themselves "snow-less proof" by adding activities like ziplines - the NYT article references these activities also. This other article indicated that some ski areas can now remain solvent even if there is no snow. So - maybe the prediction about the existence of ski areas has to rephrased.

As for whether glaciers are receding - some of us will deny we're are on fire even when we see the flames. Witness Carl Rove on Fox News on election night. It's hilarious, but we're all susceptible to that type of thinking.

If any are in the Banff/Jasper area, visit the Columbia Ice Fields visitor center, and see the retreat of the Alabatha glacier for yourselves. It's retreating rapidly despite 30-40' of snow each year. There are markers showing the retreat which begin in parking lot, some distance from the tongue of the glacier itself. Even after seeing it, I'm sure there are some who say it's all a hoax.

What was most impressive and frightening was the dimension and speed at which this is occurring. The pics of what the terrain looked like when the study began and how it appears now is nothing short of terrifying. Also the comparison of how it changed ever so slowly over 100 yrs. vs 10 yrs more recently. The changes were so dramatic that at one point when they reviewed the pics they were certain they were standing in the wrong place. This could not be true.

I fear if we continue walking down this road, we are going to zip ourselves into one big fine mess and the kids will reap our harvest.

 

[Tim Seaver]

And if climate change isn't real, we don't need wind turbines. See how easy that is? It just takes Magical Thinking.

 

[cushetunk]

New England winters are getting warmer and wetter. I suspect that to casual observers (i.e. most of us), the effects of the winter warming have been masked by increased heavy snow events. At some point, however, we'll cross the threshold when the majority of those big precipitation events are rainstorms, even in mid-winter. That's not going to bode well for skiing.

 

[Red Oak]

One book very well regarded on climate change is this one http://www.billmckibben.com/end-of-nature.html .Dude seems to not be that "hardcore"by activist standards[ie;going intellectual as opposed to blowing up power lines,etc.]Cracks me up that global warming and climate change used to be radical words but are now so cliche and average,how about "evaporation"?Glad to defer to the scientists on this one regardless of personal opinion.
The last paragraph quote in that nyt article makes me nervous:"nighttime minimum temps. rising faster than daytime maximum temps".Ouch....

 

[marnof]

IMHO, it's not a hoax, glaciers have been retreating since the end of the last ice age (10-12 thousand years ago). The issues are around whether human activity is accelerating the process, and if so, by how much.

...and if human activity is able to decelerate the process, and if so, by how much.

 

[Jay H]

FYI, for those in the Berkshire area, I am seeing "Chasing Ice" at the Berkshire Musuem on Monday, Jan 7th at 7pm if interested.. PM me if ya are in the neighborhood..

Jay