The Mountains are Melting

The Mountains are Melting

By Marianna Nowacki   

April 21, 2014

2012 held the fourth warmest winter on record since 1896.

I vividly remember the winter of 2011-2012. I was a senior in high school and had just gotten a brand new Burton Feelgood 149” snowboard for my 18^th birthday. New bindings, new boots: the whole nine yards. I was imagining the soft powdery turns on my new board, excited to hit the slopes as soon as possible. There was one problem; there was no snow. December 2011 to February 2012 was the fourth warmest winter on record since 1896 and the third lowest snow cover since 1966, when satellites began tracking snow cover. Drastic fluctuations in temperature, especially during the winter months, create economic risks for ski areas in the Northeastern United States - a majority of which are currently in danger of closing by the end of the century. Environmental change is necessary to prevent economic impacts and leaving people like myself stuck at home wishing and hoping for white flakes to fall from the sky.

According to NASA 97% of climate scientists agree that climate-warming over the past century is very likely due to human activity. Climate change is defined as major changes in temperatures, rainfall, snow, or wind patterns lasting for decades or longer; research is reporting that the number of extreme events (such as extreme cold) will increase. Americans do not attribute colder weather to climate change according to a March 2014 Gallup poll. Of the 66% of U.S. citizens who thought their local area was colder this past winter, only 19% believe it was due to human-caused climate change, while 46% believe the colder temperatures were merely normal variations.

A shirtless man watches two skiers at the Olympics on 

February 14, 2014. The warm temperatures is Sochi created

problems for some of the events. 

The effects of climate change on snowfall were forced to the forefront of all winter enthusiasts’ minds, with 2013 being the sixth warmest year in recorded human history and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games being held in Sochi, Russia. U.S. Ski Team member and 2014 Olympian, Andy Newell of Bennington, Vermont, joined 105 other Winter Olympic Athletes in a  Call to Action in accordance with Protect Our Winters (POW) urging world leaders to take action on climate change at the UN Framework Convention in Paris in 2015. Daniel Scott, a Professor of Global Change and Tourism at the University of Waterloo, Canada projects that of the 19 Olympic cities that have held the winter games previously, as few as 10 might be cold enough to host again in 2050 and by 2100, that number shrinks to 6. In Sochi, the Russian Olympic planners buried half a million cubic meters of snow under refrigerated blankets in preparation of the 2014 games.

Ski resorts as well as the environment will be drastically effected if
emissions and temperatures continue to rise throughout the century.

By the end of the century the snow season in the Northeast may be half as long and will be confined to highland areas, specifically mountains of higher altitude in Vermont. On average, temperatures in the U.S. have risen 2.2 degrees since 1970 and the strongest trends have occurred in the northern parts of the country. Winter temperatures are expected to increase an additional 6°F to 10°F by the end of the century under a higher-emissions scenario. Impacts of climate change range from reduced snowpack and melting glaciers to dying alpine forests and shorter winter seasons. Jeremy Davis, Senior Meteorologist at WeatherRouting and founder of New England Lost Ski Areas Project, states, “Back to back poor winters, bad management and great periods of ups and downs [climatically] cause immense stress for ski areas.” These very factors caused 592 ski areas in the U.S. Northeast to shutdown in the late 80s and early 90s.

Most resorts have turned 

to artificial snowmaking

as a safeguard against 

inconsistent winters.

Half of the ski resorts in the Northeast are in danger of closing within the next 30 years and only 4 would remain profitable (ski resorts are deemed profitable if they are able to remain open for at least 100 days and holidays, and have snowmaking technology) by 2100 due to this inconsistency in weather, especially during the winter season. “There were bad winters in the past, but climate change is certainly making them worse and causing more variable winters. It is necessitating snow making and driving up costs which causes ski areas to go out of business” states Tyler Wilkinson-Ray of T-Bar Films. Despite heavy investments in snowmaking, the Northeastern United States remains susceptible to fluctuations in natural snowfall and decreases in snowpack. By the end of the next two to three decades, none of the ski areas in Connecticut and Massachusetts are projected to stay open and remain profitable. Larger ski areas in Vermont are the least vulnerable to climate change as they are of higher elevation, and are projected to remain open throughout the century. Decreased visitations would bring detrimental economic impacts as the Northeast has the highest skier participation rates across the country.

Sleepy Hollow Inn Ski and Bike Center in Huntington, VT

has turned to weddings for their consistent income.

A study completed in 2012 by Elizabeth Burakowski and Matthey Magnusson, both of the University of New Hampshire, states that the Northeast and New York ski industry collectively accounts for 13,413,615 skier visits (22.44% of skier visits nationwide), 47,231 jobs, and $2.7 billion in value added to their economies. In times of low snowfall, these numbers decrease by about 3 million skier visits, 3,000 jobs, and $183 million in value added to economies in the region. The combination of increased snowmaking costs, decreased season lengths and lower visitation rates, increase operational costs for energy, fuel and labor, and therefore lowers revenue from related spending such as lift passes. To help cope with these economic impacts, ski areas are implementing diversification programming (e.g., mountain biking, hiking, canopy tours, conferences, events and weddings) in the fall and summer to help reduce economic variability due to unpredictable winters. “We primarily depend on weddings for our consistent income. I think we need to focus on that even more in the future. Skiing should be our ‘bonus’ money. I think we will have many more years, but we need to stay ahead of it.” states Molly Peters, whose family owns Sleepy Hollow Inn Ski and Bike Center in Huntington, Vermont.

Jiminy Peak was the first ski resort in North America to

build a wind turbine to generate clean energy.

Currently, more than 88% of U.S. ski resorts participating in the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) indicated that they are using snowmaking to supplement natural snow cover. Snowmaking however, is expensive, carrying a price tag of at least $500,000 and consuming up to 50% of resort energy costs. These hefty costs are what drove Jiminy Peak, located in Hancock, Massachusetts, to build a Zephyr 1.5MW wind turbine. Jim Van Dyke, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability at Jiminy Peak, states, “By being efficient during the periods we have snowmaking temperature windows, long or short, we are able to convert a lot of water to snow within a short period of time…we have to be prepared and nimble.” The wind turbine provides 33% of the total electricity demands of the resort.

More important than the ski industry, our whole winter environment is in danger. If we do not act to reduce fossil fuel emissions, lower energy consumption and learn to live more sustainably, our children may not even know what snow is. Governments across the globe need to bring legislation to the table addressing the very real threat of climate change, just as Andy Newell states in his Call to Action. Policies in place need to be realized to their fullest potential, and other policies must be created that safeguard our environment for generations to come. We cannot focus merely on the present but must imagine a future with plentiful winters and work to make that a reality. 

Works Cited

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