In the Swiss Alps, some wonder what a future without snow can mean

An unusually warm winter has forced a rethink about climate change in areas with lower peaks as ski resorts and sporting events face to an uncertain future.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That was the last thing Ski Resort Manager Simon Bissig wanted to see upon entering the Swiss Alps guesthouse one day in January. The pale wooden lodge should have been crowded with parents sipping hot drinks while cheering on the children hurtling down the slopes.
Instead, it was empty and looking instead of the frosted windows, the panes were whipped by the rain.
Where the guests would have dined, an unlikely crisis session was held. Marketing consultants reviewed plans for what had become a nagging existential question: what could a ski resort do without enough snow?
"I think we have to see something is dying,” said Michelle Furrer, the manager of the guest house, which is on the same slope as the ski resort, Sattel-Hochstuckli, which Mr. Bissig. "We have to accept this, then we can try to build - to find something else."
It's difficult for the station employees and many villagers from the town of Sattel, just under 30 miles from Zurich, to acknowledge that the days of skiing there may be numbered.
While the planet is warming, Europe had to face a deadly climatic year crises.In summer, many regions suffered from a severe drought and a record heat. Already this year, some regions experienced the highest winter temperatures, so hot that many ski resorts could not even produce snow.
For Switzerland, whose glaciers and snowpack form a crucial storehouse for Europe's water supply, the effect has been particularly alarming. The country is warming at more than double the rate of the global average and its glaciers have lost 6% of their volume in the last year alone, according to Swiss federal authorities and a glacier monitoring group.
< p class="css -at9mc1 evys1bk0">The changes pose a risk to parts of a Swiss ski industry that some estimates generate around $5.5 billion a year. But in a country where almost everyone skis, snow loss is more than an economic or environmental hazard. It is a threat to national identity.
ImageJulia and Silvan Betschart in Herrenboden, their hotel and restaurant in Satel. Credit...Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times
"Skiing here was something like the sport of the people," Mr Bissig said. “And you feel that, little by little, it is decreasing. It's very sad. ”
For years, residents of places like Sattel, where the highest peaks are around 5,250 feet above sea level, have thought that they would be spared the worst snow losses. Now, climatologists say places below 6,500 feet will most likely face a snowless future if current warming rates continue. Even those who are higher...

World Jan 16, 2023 0 42 Add to Reading List

In the Swiss Alps, some wonder what a future without snow can mean

An unusually warm winter has forced a rethink about climate change in areas with lower peaks as ski resorts and sporting events face to an uncertain future.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">That was the last thing Ski Resort Manager Simon Bissig wanted to see upon entering the Swiss Alps guesthouse one day in January. The pale wooden lodge should have been crowded with parents sipping hot drinks while cheering on the children hurtling down the slopes.

Instead, it was empty and looking instead of the frosted windows, the panes were whipped by the rain.

Where the guests would have dined, an unlikely crisis session was held. Marketing consultants reviewed plans for what had become a nagging existential question: what could a ski resort do without enough snow?

"I think we have to see something is dying,” said Michelle Furrer, the manager of the guest house, which is on the same slope as the ski resort, Sattel-Hochstuckli, which Mr. Bissig. "We have to accept this, then we can try to build - to find something else."

It's difficult for the station employees and many villagers from the town of Sattel, just under 30 miles from Zurich, to acknowledge that the days of skiing there may be numbered.

While the planet is warming, Europe had to face a deadly climatic year crises.In summer, many regions suffered from a severe drought and a record heat. Already this year, some regions experienced the highest winter temperatures, so hot that many ski resorts could not even produce snow.

For Switzerland, whose glaciers and snowpack form a crucial storehouse for Europe's water supply, the effect has been particularly alarming. The country is warming at more than double the rate of the global average and its glaciers have lost 6% of their volume in the last year alone, according to Swiss federal authorities and a glacier monitoring group.

< p class="css -at9mc1 evys1bk0">The changes pose a risk to parts of a Swiss ski industry that some estimates generate around $5.5 billion a year. But in a country where almost everyone skis, snow loss is more than an economic or environmental hazard. It is a threat to national identity.

ImageJulia and Silvan Betschart in Herrenboden, their hotel and restaurant in Satel. Credit...Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times

"Skiing here was something like the sport of the people," Mr Bissig said. “And you feel that, little by little, it is decreasing. It's very sad. ”

For years, residents of places like Sattel, where the highest peaks are around 5,250 feet above sea level, have thought that they would be spared the worst snow losses. Now, climatologists say places below 6,500 feet will most likely face a snowless future if current warming rates continue. Even those who are higher...