While many large corporate players in the ski industry are reaching record yearly profits, climate change is silently killing local, independent mountains in droves. According to French geographer Pierre-Alexandre Metral, a total of 180 ski mountains have closed in France alone since the 1970s. While much of this can be attributed to poor management and an inability to compete with larger destinations, it is impossible to deny that climate change has played a significant part in these closings.
At Wachusett Mountain here in Massachusetts, the average snowfall of the largest snowstorms between 2012-2015 was double that of the 2022-2025 seasons. The significant change in only ten years is a concerning trend for the future of the ski industry.
Another consequence of climate change on the ski industry is the “backyard effect.” The backyard effect is the phenomenon where people are far more likely to go skiing for the day if they see snow in their backyard. Despite ski resorts being able to spin their snow makers as much as they want, it is not enough to capture the attention of skiers because of the so-called backyard effect. So, even with technologies that produce artificial snow, climate change’s effect on natural snow is hurting the ski industry.
While climate change is drastically changing the ski industry, the industry itself is exacerbating the changing climate. Aside from the obvious emissions inherent to running lodges, lifts, etc., snow making is also energy and fresh water intensive. A prominent example of this is the state of Colorado. In Colorado, one of the most naturally snowy places in the United States, 2.2 billion gallons of water are used to create additional artificial snow for skiers to ski on. That is equivalent to using thirty-three hundred olympic-sized swimming pools a year of water in just one state alone.
It is clear that climate change is a major threat to the ski industry, but what are mountains doing to fight it? Most ski mountains that are owned by the major ski conglomerates, such as Vail, Alterra, and Boyne, have created lofty goals of achieving net zero emissions by 2030. The feasibility of these goals is yet to be seen, and only time will tell if they are successful in meeting these targets.