After a slow start to the season, snow cover may have built up at the big-name, high-level Swiss resorts like Davos, Zermatt and St. Moritz. But less-famous names, still waiting for snow, are planning to seek alternative sources of tourist cash.
LOCARNO, Switzerland -- Keep off the pistes, say the signs: not because hikers might collide with skiers, but because their boots would wear away what dregs of snow remain.
After a slow start to the season, snow cover may have built up at the big-name, high-level Swiss resorts like Davos, Zermatt and St. Moritz. But less-famous names, still waiting for snow, are planning to seek alternative sources of tourist cash.
"The lifts were open over the Christmas season. Now it's over, I don't know," said Luca, a Locarno resident trekking along paths muddied by melted snow on the steep slopes above the town. "It makes it a lot quieter for walking."
Above Locarno on the 1,400-metre Cimetta -- blanketed in snow last year -- the ski lifts and restaurant are closed. A thin trail of brown-streaked old snow runs down a short slope in the shadows.
The lakeside resort in Italian-speaking southern Switzerland is known more as a summer destination than for its ski slopes, but the lack of snow cover is indicative of a problem that many mid-level Alpine resorts are experiencing.
The Swiss Environment Ministry and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have already examined the possible business consequences of global warming for winter sports in low-lying areas.
The Swiss ministry says resorts lower than 1,500 metres above sea level will increasingly struggle to maintain revenues.
This winter, Swiss pistes above about 2,000 metres have snow cover, but anywhere lower is struggling. For instance many runs at Gstaad (resort altitude 1,050 metres) and Engelberg (1,000 metres) remain closed.
Across the wide panorama, high Alpine peaks have only a smattering of snow on their summits.
BUY HIGH
Temperatures in Switzerland were up to 2.5 degrees Celsius (36.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average in December, according to the national weather service MeteoSwiss, with warmer temperatures even more pronounced above 1,000 metres.
Various World Cup ski events have been postponed, cancelled, or moved to higher altitudes, and in Wengen, Austrian World Cup skier Rainer Schoenfelde famously made a naked ski run on a dare, and said it was not cold at the time.
In the lowlands, according to Blick newspaper, people have been forced to mow lawns which have kept growing: if snow falls on long grass, it will destroy it.
"I don't think people have been re-booking (ski holidays), but those who haven't (yet) booked are looking at higher resorts," said Betony Garner, spokeswoman for the Ski Club of Great Britain.
"It might have more of an effect next year and after. People might not book at mid-level resorts and instead look at higher ones," Garner said.
Sarah Lewis, secretary-general of the International Ski Federation, said future calendars will be structured to visit areas which tend to have the best snow at specific times of the year.
"The disciplines which have been most affected are freestyle and snowboarding where considerable amounts of snow are required to build the respective courses," Lewis said in an email.
FROM PISTE TO SPA
The OECD warned last month that global warming could devastate Europe's low-lying ski resorts within decades, and added banks in Switzerland are already refusing to lend money to ski resorts below 1,500 metres.
Many lower towns and villages -- such Switzerland's Chateau d'Oex, Garmisch in Germany and Kitzbuehel in Austria -- are not dependent on ski revenues, but warmer temperatures will leave a gap in their tourist income as skiers move uphill, says Switzerland Tourism spokeswoman Veronique Kanel.
"Luckily for Switzerland, most winter resorts work also very well in the summer," she told Reuters by telephone.
"If snow were to become scarce at mid-altitude, resorts will have to transform themselves and look at other ways to attract tourists, such as hiking, biking."
One option is to extend the hiking season further into autumn and spring, and lengthen the routes kept clear for winter walking on snow paths, Kanel said. Other resorts may develop spas.
Summer tourism in the mountains could benefit from warmer weather -- but the countryside will be less attractive because of retreating glaciers, dried out streams and increased risk of rock falls, the Environment Ministry said in a report.
The thawing of the permafrost could also have serious and expensive consequences for infrastructure, as it loosens the foundations for ski lift installations and rail lines.
"Skiing at high level is way better than lower down," said the Ski Club's Garner. "I think people are really starting to take notice of global warming now."
Source: Reuters
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