European Ski Resorts Find Summer Season Increasingly Lucrative

As European ski resorts come to the end of a relatively snow-free winter season, some are in better shape than expected—because they’ve successfully pivoted to welcome summer visitors and diversified into snow-free activities. It’s never been a better time to visit an Alpine ski resort in summer.

A decade ago, it might have seemed ludicrous that ski resorts could earn enough revenue outside of the winter season, but that’s exactly what’s happening in some places. Chamonix, which hosted the very first Winter Olympics in 1924, has managed to pivot its revenue streams and now earns 40% of its lift fees during ‘off peak’ months (from May to October).

The statistics show it’s a necessity—by 2080, nearly half of those resorts that have hosted the Winter Olympics, will not have reliable snowfall. In the north of Europe, the snow is melting so much in some places that archaeologists are discovering skis and clothes in perfect condition as the ice melts for the first time around them in thousands of years.

According to a 2021 report, an astonishing 400 million people visit ski resorts every year around the world and half of these visits are to the Alps. This mountain range, that encompasses many central European countries including Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, accounts for one third of all ski resorts globally.

With climate change and the resulting increase in global temperatures, a lack of snow in recent years has required many European ski resorts to rely on artificial snow throughout the season—but that isn’t holding up from an economic standpoint either, as the current rising cost of electricity means the price of artificial snow is now between €3 and €7 a cubic metre instead of €2.

A new report by Legambiente, an Italian environmental group, states that nine out of ten Italian ski resorts are now dependant on snow cannons to survive and using 142 artificial lakes to do so—enough water to sustain a town of a million people.

Recorded average temperatures across resorts rose by three degrees centigrade between 1961 and 2018 and in that time, 249 Italian resorts have closed and 84 more open and close irregularly during the ski season to accommodate fluctuating snowfall.

A lack of melting Alpine snow has also reduced water levels in the River Po that feeds one of Italy’s largest agricultural regions—farmers have been forced to find less water-intensive crops, providing a much needed lesson on diversification for Italy’s mountainous regions.

The report also claims that 70% of Austrian resorts are dependent on cannons, 50% in Switzerland, 39% in France and 25% on German slopes. It’s clearly a unsustainable option and certainly resorts below 2,000 meters will not be able to keep providing skiing conditions beyond the next ten years.

With half of French ski resorts having to close at some point over the past season (with as many as 32 days where snow didn’t fall at all), more sustainable options are the only way through.

Across Europe, farsighted resorts are diversifying by opening toboggan runs, or starting activities such as caving, winter mountain biking and guided horse rides. And as reported by Bloomberg—those that host biathlons, cycling races, and create theme parks—will thrive.