Ski Conditions
Winter resorts prepare for climate change
Marketplace, NPR, February 18, 2005

This the biggest ski weekend of the year. Thank all those heavy storms that got the season off to a good start. But a few ski resort operators are bracing themselves for the worst. Sarah Efron reports on predictions of a lot less snow to go around.

Arthur DeJong is in charge of environmental planning at the Whistler- Blackcomb ski resort in British Columbia. He's riding the ski lift above the bottom slopes of Whistler Mountain. Normally at this time of year, there would be excellent skiing on this part of the mountain, but right now, there are big swaths of brown earth showing through.

Arthur DeJong: What you're going to see here is large patches of snow, but typically, mid winter, we'd have a meter and a half of snow.

The resort will host the 2010 Winter Olympics. But this year, it's been suffering through an extremely warm season. It may just be a spell of unusual weather. However, DeJong and other managers at the ski resort believe scientists' claims that temperatures like this could become more common.

Arthur DeJong: We're trying to do our part with respect mitigating climate change and reducing the amount of fossil fuels we emit. We alone aren't going to change the direction of warming by ourselves, so we will also adapt to climate change.

And so the ski resort has invested heavily in new snowmaking equipment. It's built snow fences around its shrinking glaciers, to protect them from wind erosion. It's doing what it can to protect its business against global warming -- at a time when many other ski operators, aren't preparing at all.

UC Berkeley professor John Harte studies climate change in the Colorado Rockies. He says most ski operators prefer not to worry about long term climate change. Especially in a year like this, when the Rockies have experienced heavy snowfall. Even after a string of warm years, Harte says ski resorts aren't inclined to see a trend.

John Harte: They just attribute it to a bum year. Maybe next year will be better. If scientific forecasts will be believed, it won't get better.

Harte's predictions, and those of other climatologists, indicate that high mountain regions will have less snow in the future, and the snow will melt earlier. Harte says mountain regions are especially susceptible to global warming because glaciers and snow reflect heat. When they're gone, the earth will absorb heat even faster.

John Harte: Ski conditions will be increasingly poor and the viability of ski developments is going to decline over next decades. This has led me to believe that investing in real estate or other aspects of ski development is a poor choice.

And while developers are building and expanding ski centers all across North America, their industry group is showing a little more concern. The National Ski Areas Association is lobbying hard in Washington for legislation to lower greenhouse gas emissions. It's also running a campaign called "Keep Winter Cool" to encourage winter sports enthusiasts to reduce their own energy consumption. Geraldine Link is the director of public policy.

Geraldine Link: Addressing this issue is important for the ski industry, for our environment and our livelihood. It's about protecting a lifestyle. Winter recreation is something we're passionate about and we'd like to preserve for the future. We need to act now in order to turn things around for the future.

The Whistler-Blackcomb resort may be preparing more for global warming than other ski centers. But it's also lucked into some valuable real estate. The resort has plenty of high alpine, perfect for new ski runs if the bottom slopes are no longer viable. The resort says it's confident that with the increased use of snowmaking equipment, there will be excellent skiing here. And skiiers across North America might find that in the future, they have to head higher up in the hills to get their winter fix. For Marketplace, I'm Sarah Efron in Whistler.