“Is the sport of skiing dying out?”, says the front page of the news magazine Panorama, before the start of the ski season. It is a question that even the researchers ask themselves.
In the abandoned ski resort of Marsia, SVT’s team is shown around by Ettore Raponi, who has been a frequent visitor to the ski hotel in the area since childhood.
– Here there were crowded restaurants and discotheques, the world’s party nights. I remember how in 1995 or 1996 I celebrated one of my best New Year’s Eves that I can remember here. There was a lot of snow. If I think about what it was like here at that time, I feel a great sadness.
Cutting the snow in half
A study carried out by 30 researchers from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria and Slovenia for the University of Padua, shows that especially below 2000 meters altitude, the lack of snow is increasing and the glaciers are shrinking. Winter lasts 22-34 days less and there is 50 to 60 percent less snow than 50 years ago.
– Especially in the spring and winter, a reduced snow depth is generally noticeable, says researcher Alice Crespi at the Institute for Earth Observation in Bolzano, in South Tyrol.
Risk of natural disasters
In addition to problems for the ski resorts, the lack of snow also leads to water shortages and an increased risk of natural disasters. In July, a large piece of the glacier on Mount Marmolada in the Dolomites broke off and eleven mountaineers were killed.
In Italy, the long economic crisis has also affected the ski facilities – a situation that has now worsened with the high energy prices. But it is the lack of snow that is decisive.
– Without the snow cannons, we can’t keep the plant running, that’s what our new reality looks like. We’ve been here since 1970 but it’s getting harder and harder to stay open and we don’t want to raise the prices too much either, says Vincenzo Fiaschetti, plant manager at Campo Felice in the Apennines.
The large facility is located at an altitude of over 1,500 meters, but still the lack of snow and the heat are a problem. If it’s too hot, even the snow cannons won’t help.
Is this the end of skiing in southern Europe? Watch the reporter visit one of the abandoned ski resorts, in the clip above.