CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FUTURE OF SKIING

Its not all scary stuff, in fact, if we can achieve our Paris Agreement Targets, the future of skiing is pretty exciting! That being said, knowing what climate change will look like for your resort and region is important to help plan not only your sustainability initiatives, but all operations and strategic plans. While climate change is an uncomfortable topic, ignoring its impacts isn't helpful. Instead we've pulled together key research on Canadian ski industry specific climate impacts regionally on the following topics:

Local Climate Changes
Season length & Shifting Seasonality
Snowmaking & Climate Adaptation
Broad & Indirect Climate Impacts
Other Research & Resources

While the information below is shown regionally, we have detailed information for each resort specifically that we are happy to share with you confidentially upon request (email [email protected])

FIND LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE DATA

Check out the changes in temperature, precipitation, extreme heat days and more from our friends at Climate Atlas:

QUEBEC

ONTARIO

ALBERTA

BRITISH COLUMBIA

YUKON

Whitehorse

To search climate data for other communities or regions check out Climate Atlas's local data.

SHIFTING SKI SEASON LENGTH

Climate change is and will continue to impact ski season length and mountain tourism seasonality. Using SkiSim2.0 ski industry specific climate models, POW Canada Science Alliance members have identified current and future season lengths across key Canadian ski tourism markets considering both natural and machine-made snow. This model assumes a required base of 30cm for ski operations, and activates snowmaking whenever modelled natural snow falls below the 30cm baseline and temperatures permit (below freezing).

Baseline ski season lengths currently all exceed 100 days, with Alberta and British Columbia exceeding 150 potential days. Results demonstrate that low emission futures are considerably better for maintaining season length across all regions. Ontario and British Columbia, with higher average winter temperatures are more vulnerable to climate change.

Read the research here

LOSING OUR COOL: THE FUTURE OF SNOWSPORTS IN A WARMING WORLD

A research report examining the impacts of climate change through the careers of two prominent female Olympic gold medalists: Nancy Greene (gold in 1968) and Ashleigh McIvor (gold in 2010). Using the latest in climate modelling the report also looks at the projected impacts of climate change on future Olympians and Canadian ski areas. Keeping our cool depends on the emissions pathway we choose!

Click here to read the report.

SNOWMAKING

Snowmaking has been an essential ski industry adaptation to adverse weather and climate variability since its development in 1952. As climate change accelerates, reliance on snowmaking will increase across Canada. Investment in snowmaking is expected to grow at a 4.6-5.7% annual rate globally, yet before jumping head first into big technological investments understanding the effectiveness and impacts of snowmaking in your region is important.

What does snowmaking look like across Canada?

Eastern Canadian ski areas are already highly reliant on snowmaking which means these investments are sunken costs that are integrated into operations, and guests are comfortable skiing on artificial snow. Western Canada has lower levels of snowmaking installed currently and much larger areas of terrain to cover, decisions on future investment are pertinent to ski areas in BC and Alberta. While snowmaking may be important to ensure coverage in key areas and time periods, Western Canadian skiing is often centred around POW days, meaning guest expectations around snowmaking may differ. Cost of investment favours corporations and ski areas with existing infrastructure, yet could lead to path dependency challenges.

Region	Ski Areas	Skiable Terrain (in Acres)	Percentage of Terrain with Snowmaking
Alberta	32	21,673	31%
British Columbia	40	64,989	14%
Quebec	75	5,873	76%
Ontario	61	2351	95%
CANADA	237	96,651	24%

How is climate change affecting the need for snowmaking?

To remain operational for a minimum of 100 day season, and over important time periods (including Christmas and New Years holidays) required snowmaking increases between +55% to +97% nationally. High emission scenarios could test limits of snowmaking as an adaptation, especially in Ontario and low elevation regions in BC.

Skier responses to snowmaking are uncertain and may vary in different markets

What are the impacts of snowmaking in Canada?

Water

Current water use of 43.4 million m3 annually (17,300 swimming pools), rising up to 8.1 million m3. 15% of this is considered “consumed”, while the rest returns to watersheds during snowmelt. Water use conflicts may grow as climate change accelerates, meaning it is important to know current and future water rights, as well as other users (e.g. agriculture, municipal drinking water) to ensure needs are met.

Energy

Currently Canada's annual snowmaking energy use is 478,000 MWh (equivalent to 43,000 Canadian homes annual electricity use). This could rise up to 800,000 MWh annually by 2050 under high emission futures. Efficiency upgrades could reduce or limit water and energy use significantly

Emissions

Total emissions from Canadian snowmaking annually are estimated at 130,095 tonnes CO2. Current policy to decarbonize electricity grids by 2050 would reduce Canada's annual snowmaking emissions by 96% to 4721 tonnes of CO2 even if snowmaking increases by 81% climate models suggest. Electricity grid decarbonization far outweighs any potential technological efficiency gains within snowmaking, meaning the most effective way to reduce snowmaking impacts is not new technology, its installing or advocating for clean energy in your region, province and across Canada.

For resort specific snowmaking analysis please contact [email protected]

OTHER RELEVANT CLIMATE IMPACTS

FOREST FIRES & CLIMATE CHANGE

Forest fires are on the rise across Canada, in terms of number of fires, area burned, intensity. A huge cause for concern for all Canadians, check out Canadian Geographic's article on 100 years of forest fires in Canada.

RESEARCH & RESOURCES

CLIMATE CHANGE & THE WINTERS OLYMPIC GAMES

A survey of 339 elite athletes and coaches from 20 countries was used to define fair and safe conditions for snow sports competitions. The frequency of unfair-unsafe conditions has increased over the last 50 years across the 21 Olympic host locations.

The reliability of the host locations of the Olympic games changes radically if global emissions remain on the trajectory of the last two decades, leaving only one reliable host city by the end of the century. Athletes expressed trepidation over the future of their sport and the need for the sporting world to be a powerful force to inspire and accelerate climate action.

Click here to read the report and original research