Research Review: Resort Skiing’s New Reality — Shorter Seasons, Fewer Trips, Expensive Snowmaking

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)

Climate change is shortening ski seasons and reducing natural snow. Low-elevation resorts are hit hardest, leading to operational problems and closures. Skier satisfaction and loyalty drop; trips and overnight stays decline; regional economies absorb losses. Resorts turn to artificial snowmaking and year-round diversification; skiers substitute destinations, timing, or activities; governments and communities invest in infrastructure and carbon-reduction strategies.

Purpose of the Study

Review how climate change affects ski tourism from three stakeholder perspectives—ski resorts, ski tourists, and governments/communities—and summarize adaptation strategies.

Methods

• Scientometric/bibliometric review of 218 English-language journal articles (1996–2023) from Web of Science.

• Analyses with CiteSpace (publication trends, co-citation, keyword co-occurrence).

• Stakeholder framework: resorts, tourists, governments/communities.

Results

Ski Resorts

Season length and snow reliability:

• Switzerland: a warming of +2 °C cuts the ski season by about 20%.

• Alps, 1970 to 2015: snowpack duration shortened by about 8.9 days each decade across 11 stations (elevations 1,139 to 2,540 meters).

• Austria: with +2 °C, resorts below roughly 1,500 to 1,600 meters struggle to keep reliable natural snow.

• New Zealand (days with at least 30 cm of natural snow): historically about 113 to 125 days; about 99 to 116 days by 2040; about 52 to 110 days by 2090.

• Australia (days with at least 30 cm of natural snow): historically about 94 to 155 days; about 81 to 114 days by 2040; about 0 to 75 days by 2070.

• Elevation sensitivity: warming of 0.9 to 2.3 °C is linked to snow-season losses of about 44% at 1,500 meters and about 11% at 3,000 meters (nearly half the season lost at mid-mountain; roughly one-tenth lost at high mountain).

• Regional differences: Alpine fringe and eastern regions are more affected than western and inner Alpine areas. Some high resorts gain visitors when lower resorts cannot operate.

Low-elevation resorts

• Rising temperatures raise the snowline (about 300 meters at +2 °C; about 600 meters at +4 °C). Even <1 °C of warming can significantly cut snowpack below 1,400 meters.

• Reported effects include reduced operating hours and closures of small, low-altitude resorts, with consolidation toward larger, higher, better-capitalized hills.

Resort adaptations

• Artificial snowmaking: widely adopted; more than half of Austrian resorts are expected to double or triple capacity under +2 °C. About 18% of ski resorts in the German Alps and about 20% in the French Alps are currently equipped with snowmaking.

• Trade-offs: high capital and operating costs, heavy water use, environmental concerns, and uncertain long-term profitability.

• Diversification: indoor ice, snowshoeing, winter photography; expansion to summer and all-season mountain resort offerings; high-altitude development to extend seasons.

Ski Tourists

Satisfaction

• Artificial snow increases costs and reduces perceived value; shorter seasons increase crowding, risk, and poorer snow quality.

• Altered snow quality is linked with more orthopedic injuries.

• Destination examples show skiers valuing scenery, snow conditions, and piste quality; resorts that deliver on these attract them.

Loyalty

• Intent to reduce participation: 39% in Austria and 34% in the northeastern United States.

• Australia: 38% would ski overseas after 5 consecutive poor-snow winters.

• Domestic tourists are more sensitive to snow variability than international visitors; experienced skiers follow snow quality across regions.

Behavior (substitution)

• Spatial substitution (switching resorts or countries): about 49% of skiers in Switzerland, 61% in Canada, 63% in Australia, and 68% in Austria said they would switch where they ski.

• Temporal substitution (change dates) when crowded.

• Activity substitution (winter walking, mountain biking) when skiing isn’t viable.

• Beginners are more likely to quit; experts are more likely to travel abroad.

Governments & Communities

Economic impacts

• United States, 2000 to 2019: average national loss of ski days 3.9% (about 2,238,000 days), which corresponds to about $173.7 million in annual consumer surplus loss; industry loss about $252 million per year (more than $5 billion over two decades).

• 2050s projections: about $657 million per year under a low-emissions path and about $1.352 billion per year under a high-emissions path.

• Regional shifts: Scandinavia may gain as Alpine reliability declines, per sources summarized in the review.

Resource and legal pressures

• Snowmaking water demand stresses downstream hydrology and may conflict with other users.

• Example: 2018 Colorado resorts’ lawsuit (against ExxonMobil and Suncor) reflects emerging climate-liability dynamics.

• Employment impacts noted, including decline in the Scottish snowsports industry (value about $40.13 million, more than 600 jobs).

Government/community strategies

• Infrastructure to improve access and resilience (for example, Scandinavian Mountains Airport, supported by public funds).

• Carbon-reduction: EV charging, low-carbon transport, more efficient snowmaking.

• Policy/finance: the G7 (June 2021) proposed climate-risk disclosure; investors, lenders, and equipment makers are seeking resort-level climate risk data.

• Regional integration and year-round tourism to stabilize demand and revenue.

Key Findings

• Resorts: Seasons are shrinking—especially below about 1,600 meters. Snowmaking is the main buffer but is costly, water-intensive, and not a permanent fix. All-season diversification is expanding.

• Tourists: Satisfaction and loyalty decline; substitution (place, time, activity) is common; beginners drop out more than experts.

• Governments/communities: Large and growing economic losses, water conflicts, and uneven regional outcomes (some winners, many losers).

Conclusion

The literature shows a consistent pattern: shorter, less reliable winters are destabilizing resort skiing. Low-elevation areas face the greatest operational risk and closures. Tourists respond by traveling less, changing where and when they ski, or switching activities, which reduces overnight stays and revenue. Resorts turn to snowmaking and year-round diversification, and governments and communities invest in infrastructure and carbon-reduction. These measures mitigate but do not remove the impacts; long-term viability will require structural changes across the industry.

Bibliography

Bai Z., Zhang Y. Impact of Climate Change on Ski Tourism: A Review. Journal of Resources and Ecology. 2025;16(3):898–906. DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2025.03.025. Website: https://www.jorae.cn/EN/10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2025.03.025