As of: March 25, 2024, 7:14 p.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck, Romina Kunze
Comments
Press
Split
Many ski areas are fighting for survival.
There is a lack of snow, and often also money.
By joining forces, a community in Switzerland is preserving its tradition.
Tschiertschen - Less and less snow, plus immense costs: Not only, but especially the smaller ski areas are struggling with the effects of climate change.
As a research team calculates in the journal
Nature Climate Change
, global warming could mean the end for almost half of Europe's ski resorts.
The tranquil Tschiertschen ski area in the Swiss Alps was also on the verge of extinction.
It is thanks to the residents' effort that the lifts are still in operation.
“There is no Plan B”: Alpendorf is fighting for existence – ski area is on the verge of extinction
The village of Tschiertschen in Switzerland has just 200 inhabitants and, thanks to the picturesque Alpine landscape, is transformed from a mountain idyll into a winter sports paradise in the cold season.
Skiing has been a tradition here for decades.
But like many places, the village lacks financial resources to operate the lifts.
Also because the climate is making conditions increasingly difficult.
More and more ski areas are having to close;
Above all, there is a lack of snow, but also money.
A village in Switzerland joined forces to keep the lifts running.
(Symbolic photo) © Anton Geisser/Imago
According to information from
Spiegel,
the operating costs for one day in Tschiertschen amount to the equivalent of 13,700 euros (13,000 Swiss francs).
Calculated over the year, the mountain railways' coffers are missing well over 300,000 euros.
The income from ski operations is no longer sufficient to cover the costs of lifts, slope maintenance, equipment and staff.
In September, locals were called upon to take part in a campaign to save the cable car.
“Tschiertschen-Praden would disappear from the map of winter sports resorts after over 70 years of operation.
There is no plan B for this scenario,” was written on a leaflet by villager Hans-Peter Walser.
According to his appeal in autumn 2023, everyone should take part in the fundraising campaign “within the framework of their personal possibilities”.
Alpine ski areas in danger: operations are threatened with closure, villages are doing everything they can to stop it
The drastic words were heard: 600,000 Swiss francs were needed, but in the end, around double that amount came to around 1.2 million.
According to Spiegel,
both private individuals and companies took
part.
A rather rare happy ending in the crisis-ridden world of winter sports: According to the news magazine, more than 42 percent of the approximately 545 ski areas in the Alps had to cease operations by the end of the 2022 winter season.
Recently, a large ski area in Germany had to capitulate despite receiving millions in funding.
My news
Putin wants an “empire” – also with the help of Soviet material: “Losses are an acceptable price” read
Seriously injured ski jumping ace with devastating bedside diagnosis
“That’s disrespectful”: Civil servants earn as little as citizens’ benefit recipients – and the traffic lights are watching
Unusual event: 25,000 people wait in St. Peter's Square - Pope foregoes reading sermons
Motorcyclist from Munich has to return on foot - and takes out anger on construction yard employees
Skoda's novelty with a combustion engine impresses fans - read “It's sustainable”.
One of the main problems: the lack of snow.
A number of slopes were already closed in mid-February - actually still in the middle of the main season, but the mild temperatures this year did not allow any operations.
Preparing the tracks is expensive;
especially during thaws.
Added to this are increased personnel and energy costs, which can hardly be offset even with the recently skyrocketing smelter prices.
And where there is no snow, there is no place to stop for a break.
Thanks to the donations, operations in Tschiertschen could now be secured for ten years.
The situation is different in the Hochwang recreation and ski area, which, according to its own website, needs around 800,000 Swiss francs by the end of April 2024 to ensure the continued existence of the sports track.
Ski operations are also threatened in Austria, Germany and France.
But the case of the small Swiss village should give hope.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
Find out more about our AI principles here.