In March, Whistler Blackcomb announced that they would be cancelling summer ski camps indefinitely. Yesterday, Powder Magazine reported that this was due to declining summer conditions on the Horstman Glacier.
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| Source: https://www.powder.com/news/whistler-blackcomb-summer-skiing-cancelled |
Summer skiing is in decline worldwide. I investigated this for my book, Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth. In 1985 there were 32 operating glacier-skiing resorts in the Alps. Today there are only a few that operate for a significant part of the summer (Passo Stelvio, Saas Fe, Kitzsteinhorn, Mölltal, Les 2 Alpes, Ignes, Val d'Isere, Cervina, Hintertux, Zermatt).
Hintertux in Austria is the only ski area in the world still operating year round. Zermatt used to, but gave up the past two years (maybe they will survive this year). Hintertux moves Heaven and Earth to keep their skiing going through the summer.
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| Source: Steenburgh (2023) |
A couple of the summer skiing resorts above could probably operate year round if they wanted to. Nevertheless, due to increasing temperatures and shrinking snowfields and glaciers, the future of summer skiing is not bright.
Big Snow in NJ is the future of summer skiing
ReplyDeleteBig Facts
DeleteSLC needs a XC ski tunnel asap. I would pay whatever.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it cleans up but looks like the ski experience in those pics would not be worth the money with all that dirty snow/mud. surprised that there is enough demand to make that economically viable.
ReplyDeleteProbably mostly ski racing camps I would guess.
DeleteI rode Hintertux on 31 July 24 and it wasn't too bad on the seasonal snow. Icy early then slushy till they closed at 1pm. That picture is the lower portion and the upper portion was better. Though part of one run was glacial ice with no seasonal snow and that was horrible. Solid ice that can't be smoothed or groomed with water flowing down grooves in it.
ReplyDeleteThey did have a lot of ski racing camps. It was worth the money to me when you consider European places charge less than in the U.S. and most charge the same price to just ride the lifts for sight seeing, and that alone is worth it to a lot of people. I agree probably not very economically viable and that's why the number places even attempting it has reduced so much. Glad I did it.