Climate change is considered one of the primary threats to the sustainability of ski tourism around the world. Studies in several countries project the ski industry will be impacted by shorter ski ...seasons, greater snowmaking requirements, and a declining ski demand. Many supply-side studies suffer key limitations, such as the omission of snowmaking, leaving their conclusions highly questionable. This study utilizes the SkiSim 2 model to reassess the implications of projected climate change for two major ski tourism destinations in the Western USA (Vail, Colorado and Lake Tahoe, California) where previous studies projected major impacts when snowmaking was not considered. Historical climate data (1961-1990) and the stochastic weather generator LARS-WG are used to examine the impact of climate change scenarios for ski season length and snowmaking requirements by the 2050s. Comparisons with previous studies and implications for ski tourism development and planning will be discussed.
Abstract
This study explores decision making amongst ski area management. In particular, it examined how ski area managers are challenged by the risk and uncertainty as a result of weather and ...visitor activity patterns. Prospect theory suggests that response to uncertain conditions may not result from the application of rational thought processes (Tversky & Kahneman, 2000). Instead, decision makers may fall victim to any number of seemingly arbitrary rules or processes as they attempt to deal with uncertainty.
Ski operations in southern British Columbia were chosen for study because of the importance of ski operations to the economy of this region as well as the challenging and variable weather events they have recently experienced. For example, this area hosts international and regional visitors as well as major events like the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympic Games events. As a result, there is considerable interest in creating ski conditions that are of international calibre. However, the Vancouver and the Coast Mountains faced a weather anomaly of warm, wet weather in January 2005. Nearby regions experienced equally problematic weather conditions the following December. The task here was to discover how ski area managers were coping with the uncertainty created by variable weather patterns.
This study utilized qualitative methods. In total, 16 ski area managers participated in semi-structured interviews between the months of November 2006 and March 2007. Interviews were conducted within three British Columbia tourism regions: Vancouver and Coast Mountains, Thompson Okanagan, and Kootenay Rockies.
The most common weather disturbances to selectively or entirely impact ski operations were high winds, cold temperatures, avalanche hazards, and lightning. Managers used both rules and tools to deal with the uncertainty created by weather conditions. In terms of rules, they often relied upon heuristic strategies (cognitive rules of thumb) to help with decision making. They tended to open and close at the same time each year for example. Often these heuristics were based on historical weather data and skier visitation rates. Many managers reported being unaffected by existing biases in their decision making or falling victim to escalation of commitment (often reported in decision making studies). These managers also relied on a variety of tools to reduce uncertainty during decision making. These tools included the use of management teams, reliance on experience and individual expertise, historical weather and skier data, and reliance upon business models. For example, most of those interviewed reported extensive efforts to enhance operational sustainability. They focused on diversification (of winter products and year round activities), slope development (summer grooming), snowmaking, and environmental sustainability initiatives. In each case, the goal seemed one of reducing uncertainty in an inherently uncertain situation. Industry and market trends were impacted by improved ski technology and the increasing popularity of internet and last minute holiday bookings.
The ecological impact of the ski industry on the Rio Hondo watershed, located near Taos, NM, is examined. Focus is on the primary impact of ski resort development on river water quality & biota, & on ...water quantity in the downstream system of irrigation agriculture. Secondary impact of resort development is analyzed, insofar as it affects long-standing patterns of land & water rights ownership & use within the watershed. The watershed is considered as an ecosystem that includes the village-based agropastoral economy established during the early nineteenth century. It is concluded that while the long-range impact of ski resort development on river biology is uncertain, the increasing demand that expansion places on surface water quantity threatens downstream community resource domains & irrigation agriculture. 1 Figure, 28 References. HA
Hal Clifford couches his hard-edged expose in an aching nostalgia for the "golden age" of skiing, when it was still based on the Norwegian ideal of Idraet, a principle that involved strength, ...toughness, and moral development. Back then, he says, "skiers could pack up their Econoline van or Volkswagen microbus and drive to the mountains... What mattered was skiing, and the social hierarchy that developed each season was predicated on their abilities on the mountain." This is a far cry from the social divide that exists around today's ski towns, where one newspaper ad declared: "This May Be Your Last Chance to Build an 18,729 sq ft Home in Aspen." Clifford offers fewer solutions than criticisms. In his ideal world, skiing would liberate itself from publicly traded companies, and communities would take control. More ski areas would be nonprofit cooperatives like Idaho's Bogus Basin or Montana's Bridger Bowl. People would live in ski towns rather than simply own second homes there. "It will be neither simple nor easy for communities to gain control over ski resorts," he admits, "but opportunities to do so will arise." How that would happen is unclear, though, and his alternatives seem a distant dream.
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