Ski Resorts Are Surviving Climate Change With More Money and Less Snow

By Jin Wu, Laura Millan and Hayley Warren

February 24, 2023, 12:00 AM EST

This winter helicopters and trucks were spotted once again dumping snow over the barren slopes of European ski resorts. From France to Switzerland, Spain and Austria, some of the most popular winter sports destinations are showing they are prepared to go to great lengths to stave off the impacts of climate change.

Europe is not alone. Resorts in every continent are facing the same challenges: it snows less and winter temperatures can, at times, be too high to make artificial powder. In some areas, drought has limited access to the water needed to produce the flakes. And record energy prices have meant the whole operation is more costly. Despite this, a number of destinations are reporting healthy profits — and investing heavily to operate for decades.

Chart showing snow coverage of a certain area at Marbachegg in Switzerland for the past 6 ski seasons. — Note: Photos were taken around noon each day, and have been color balanced.

Sources: Webcam images from roundshot.com

Ski resorts with more financial resources, placed at a higher altitude or with most slopes facing north are in principle better placed to withstand the shocks of global warming, according to research. So climate change isn’t the end for the industry — but only the fittest will survive.

“We are picking up the people who used to ski in lower-altitude stations and now want to minimize the risk that there won’t be any snow there,” says Mathieu Dechavanne, chief executive officer at Compagnie du Mont-Blanc SA, based in the iconic town of Chamonix in France, where most slopes are at over 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) above sea level and not far from Le Grand-Bornand.

Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, France’s second-largest ski resort operator by revenue, is still recovering from two consecutive winters impacted by coronavirus restrictions. In the year to May 2022, it reported a net income below 2019 levels — but it was still three times higher than a decade ago. Its bigger rival in France, Compagnie des Alpes SA, which owns amusement parks as well as ski resorts, also reported healthier post-Covid earnings in 2022.

“We are dealing with situations that were unimaginable ten years ago,” Dechavanne said. “The costs are rising, but we have just renewed our contract to operate in the mountain for the next 30 years — through 2054.”

It is a bold bet at a time when scientists predict the amount of land covered by snow and ice globally will significantly shrink in future decades, regardless of how much greenhouse gases humans emit. But the level of warming still matters — for every degree the world’s average temperature rises, snow cover globally could be reduced by 8%, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In the French Alps and Pyrenees, some ski areas below 2,000 meters above sea level may not get enough natural snow to operate, according to a study by researchers at Université Grenoble Alpes.

Map showing many of the slopes at French Alps may not get reliable natural snow coverage for ski operation by 2050. — Sources: Resort snow reliability analysis under a moderate scenario (RCP 4.5) from Spandre et al.; satellite image from Google Earth; ski slope data from www.opensnowmap.org

For almost every resort across the planet, the key to survival has been snowmaking, with 95% of resorts globally relying on artificial powder to ensure good skiing conditions or to prolong the season, according to Slippery Slopes, a report on climate change and the Olympics by a researcher at Loughborough University in the UK.

In Europe, the world’s largest ski market, the energy costs are adding up. French resorts have been collectively spending between 40 and 65 million euros ($42 and $69 million) — or between 12% and 18% of their annual investments — on snowmaking every year in the past decade, according to data by industry group Domaines Skiables de France.

Artificial snowmaking has become more efficient, so it uses less water and electricity. But even with advanced technology, fake snow can’t always be deployed — and climate change is creating a more difficult environment, making water more scarce and temperatures too high for it to freeze. This year, skyrocketing energy prices forced some resorts in Japan to shut down their snow cannons and wait for natural flakes to fall.

Even with artificial snow, between 25 and 44 resorts of the 175 analyzed in the Université Grenoble Alpes report may struggle to survive in the near future. The Slippery Slopes study found that in all emissions scenarios, snow cover in mountains will shrink to the point that many cities that have hosted Olympic Games so far won’t be suitable to do so again by the 2080s.

Map showing snow reliability at 19 areas that have hosted Winter Olympics by the 2080s. — Note: Snow reliability under very low emissions scenario (RCP 2.6).

Sources: The future of the Olympic Winter Games in an era of climate change by Scott et al. (2014); NASA Earth Observations; ILIAS Universität Bern, Natural Earth

Still, many ski destinations may be looking to repeat the success of the Beijing Olympics in 2022, the first Winter games to rely almost exclusively on artificial snow. While costly to replicate, the Olympics helped showcase China’s fast-growing ski market, which has gone from around 100 to more than 800 resorts in just two decades.

Already climate change is creating winners and losers. The larger resorts, and those at higher altitudes, have more free capital to invest in new ski lifts, maintenance and remodeling slopes, and small resorts at lower altitudes are becoming more cash strapped by shorter seasons and the extra costs of snowmaking.

Chart showing changes of US ski resorts profitability between 2016-17 season and 2021-22 season, grouped by resort sizes. — Note: Resorts surveyed varies between seasons

Sources: 2021-22 analysis from US National Ski Areas Association; 2016-17 analysis from NSAA Journal Spring 2018

Among top winners is Vail Resorts Inc., the largest publicly-traded company in the ski industry. The Broomfield, Colorado-based company reported record net income of $347.9 million in the year to July 31, 2022 and is planning to invest up to $196 million in 2023.

In the US, popular resort owners have turned to deal-making to build up resilience against erratic winter seasons. The biggest players have spent millions of dollars buying dozens of resorts across the country. In 2008, Vail Resorts became the first to introduce its Epic Pass, a season ticket that gives skiers access to most of its 40 resorts across the US and in other countries. Last season it sold a record 2.1 million of these passes.

Graphic showing Vail Resorts’ expansion in the past 6 decades. — Note: *Arapahoe Basin, which separated from the Epic Pass in 2019, is not shown. Resort acquisitions include those operated under long-term agreements.

Source: Vail Resorts, public announcements

Seasonal, multi-access passes allow skiers to diversify risk. If one resort has no snow, chances are another one will. And because they’re sold before the season even starts, companies secure the revenue weeks or months in advance. The model became so successful that Vail competitor Alterra Mountain Co. introduced its own Ikon Pass, while some individual resorts in the US united to launch the Indy Pass.

“From a North American perspective, we’ve never had a situation where all destination resorts were so warm that they couldn’t make snow,” said Chad Dyer, a former vice president of marketing at Vail Resorts. “There have been times when it wasn’t very good, but there always has been product.”

Indeed, the American West is having one of its best winters in decades. Alterra’s Jackson Hole in Wyoming recently sold out of day passes and Vail capped day ticket sales at the start of the season in response to complaints about overcrowding.

Resorts try to encourage visitors to buy seasonal tickets in advance by raising the price of single-day passes. In some cases, skiing has become cheaper for those who hit the slopes multiple times every winter. But costs have increased dramatically for those who only do it occasionally — or want to try it for the first time.

Chart showing how average adult walk-up ticket prices at US ski resorts have increased more than inflation since 2012-13 season. — Note: Average adult walk-up ticket prices. Based on 18% inflation between 2012 and 2021.

Source: Economic Analysis 2021/22, US National Ski Areas Association

Large European operators have similarly restructured their pricing strategy — making day passes costlier — and explored other ways to de-risk their business. France’s Compagnie des Alpes links some of its 10 resorts together so skiers can use the same pass in nearby properties. The Paris-listed company, which has a market capitalization of 716 million euros ($759 million), also diversified into amusement parks in the early 2000s and owns a ski gear chain with more than 40 shops.

Still, not all American business models translate on the other side of the Atlantic. Acquisitions are tough. Ski resorts in Europe are highly fragmented and work under complex ownership structures — with lifts, rental shops and restaurants often controlled by separate companies.

Increasingly, resorts are accepting the fact that ski seasons are changing, and some are developing sophisticated adaptation plans. Compagnie du Mont-Blanc is now working with scientists to produce snow forecasts for the next three decades. Ski slopes expected to have less snow will receive special treatment. For instance, the resort will remove stones from the runs and make space for grass, which keeps snow intact longer.

Resorts are also starting to market themselves as year-round destinations. Despite Chamonix’s history as the first host of the Winter Olympics, it still draws in a good summer crowd, with visitors riding its historic railway or expert hikers climbing Mont Blanc. About 40% of Chamonix’s ski lift revenue is earned from May to October. Other resorts in Europe are also moving in that direction, keeping some lifts open over the summer to give hikers access to remote areas of the mountains.

Compagnie du Mont-Blanc is building a museum at about 2,000 meters above sea level that will help visitors understand how climate change is impacting the landscape. The center overlooks Mer de Glace, France’s largest glacier, which has lost about a third of its volume since 1900.

Photo of hiker walking alone on the expansive Mer de Glace in Chamonix

An alpinist ascends Chamonix’s Mer de Glace in September, 2019. Photographer: Eric Feferberg / AFP

Photo of people riding chairlifts across a wide green valley in the summertime

Ski lifts crossing the Defereggen valley at the St. Jakob resort in Austria in 2021. Photographer: Patrick Pleul / picture alliance

“We know for sure that costs are not going down,” Chamonix’s Dechavanne said. “Climate change is sad for glaciers and we see the mountain suffering, but people come and come because it’s the only place where there is fresh air – and where they can see by themselves the changes that are taking place.”

Ski Resorts Are Surviving Climate Change With More Money and Less Snow

Winter Olympics Uncertainty

Winners and Losers

Vail’s Epic Expansion

Lifting Prices in US