Abstract

Snow reliability is a key climatic impact driver for the ski tourism industry, for which there is more literature regarding future projections than past observed impacts. This study provides an assessment of past changes in natural and managed snow cover reliability from 1961 to 2018 in the French Alps. In particular, we used snowmaking investment figures to infer the evolution of snowmaking coverage at the ski resort scale for 16 ski resorts in the French Alps. We find different benefits of snow management to reduce the variability and long term decrease in snow cover reliability because of the heterogeneity of the snowmaking deployment trajectories across ski resorts. The frequency of challenging conditions for ski resort operation over the 1991–2018 period increased in November and February to April compared to the reference period 1961–1990. In general, snowmaking had a positive impact on snow reliability, especially in December to January. While for the highest elevation ski resorts, snowmaking improved snow reliability for the core of the winter season, it did not counterbalance the decreasing trend in snow cover reliability for lower elevation ski resorts and in the spring.

Highlights

  • 20 Ski tourism is a major socio-economic component of mountain areas mostly in developed countries (Vanat, 2020)

  • The frequency of challenging conditions for ski 15 resort operation over the 1991-2018 period increased in November and February to April compared to the reference period 1961-1990

  • Snowmaking had a positive impact on snow reliability, especially in December to January

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Summary

Introduction

20 Ski tourism is a major socio-economic component of mountain areas mostly in developed countries (Vanat, 2020). Due to its reliance on the snow cover, ski tourism has for long been identified to be vulnerable to climate change impacts, such as decreases in snow cover duration at low elevation in mountain regions (Martin et al, 1994, Beniston et al, 1995, Abegg et al, 2006). In order to reduce the impact of natural snow cover variability and its long term decreasing trend due to climate change, snowmaking has emerged and is nowadays routinely used in almost all ski resorts in developed countries 25 (Steiger et al, 2019).

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