Colorado may be safe from rising sea levels, but how will global warming affect the best skiing in the country?
Avid skiers who haven’t thought about how global warming will impact their sport might want to start. According to the recently released Colorado Climate Change Vulnerability Study, global warming could impact both the length and quality of the ski season in Colorado and other mountain destinations. The study says that warmer fall and spring temperatures could result in a shorter skiing season.
Mark Williams, from the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at CU Boulder said, “We’re already seeing the change” and went on to say, “And that’s today. But, you know, in 100 years I guarantee there will be some big changes.”
Williams worked on a study called Climate Change in Western Ski Areas. Funded by Aspen, an objective of this study was to explore future snow conditions.
Because it is impossible to know how greenhouse gas emission levels will change in the future, the study made several different projections with a range of potential emission scenarios. It concluded that the extent of spring snow coverage in Aspen would vary by which emissions scenario was applied.
In the 21st century, the low emissions scenario predicts that the entire ski area will still be snow-covered in the spring, while the high emissions scenario predicts that only the top third of the resort will maintain spring snow.
The threat global warming poses to skiing is not only to the quantity of snow but also the quality. According to William’s, snow density is directly related to snow quality. The lower the density the higher the quality of the snow, the more “powdery” it is. His study said that snow density is projected to increase less than 20% by 2030, which may not change the snow too drastically. By 2100, however, densities could be much higher resulting in lower quality snow.
The appeal of Colorado snow is its quality. Lower quality snow would be a disappointment not only to Colorado residents who ski throughout the winter, but also those who travel from around the globe for our “powdery” slopes.
However, for some skiers lower quality snow could be more than just a disappointment. The performance of various competitive skiers and racers might be affected. Sara Ghent, a student at CU Boulder who skied competitively when she was younger, said, “the condition of the snow is extremely important in ski racing. Certain racers are better on certain types of snow.”
Despite the potential that Colorado may be negatively impacted, it may fair far better than other destinations. The high elevations and cold temperatures will be a saving grace for Colorado resorts.
Other locations, at lower elevations that experience higher temperatures, will not fare so well.
Currently, 11.4 million people ski in Colorado annually, bringing in $2.6 billion dollars, according to the Colorado Climate Change Vulnerability Study. If competing resorts suffered, would those numbers increase?
“It turns out, those areas are actually important to the economy of the ski areas here in Colorado” Williams said. This is because Colorado’s bigger resorts are destinations for skiers from all over the world. Economically, “they want people who come, stay there for a week, rent a hotel or condo, go out to meals and shop in the stores, because that’s where they make their money.” The other ski areas around the country ”get people invested in skiing”, which motivates them to trek out to places like Aspen or Vail. Closures of these areas result in Colorado resorts ”losing those people.”
For the time being, Colorado has not suffered major consequences from global warming. But with a long-term forecast of rising temperatures, Colorado might not be so lucky for long.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Erin Stenhouse at erst2977@colorado.edu.
