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☆ Europe snow: At a mountain resort with no snowfall, skiing faces a total wipe-out
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | Photography Fiona Sibbett | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In the midst of an exceptionally warm winter, resorts like Campo Felice have a major problem: there’s no snow. And a long-running drought means there isn’t enough water to make the amount of artificial snow needed to paint its slopes white. And with a lack of rain and record-breaking heatwaves, the lakes that normally provide water for artificial snow have run dry. Across all of Italy’s ski resorts, nearly 90% use artificial snow to some degree, according to Carlo Carmagnola, a snow expert with Météo France who studies the impact of climate change on ski resorts. These changes have been hard not just on the Lallini brothers, but their employees, which usually number 250 in the ski season.

Persons: Campo, Italy CNN —, Campo Felice, Niño, Andrea Lallini, It’s, hasn’t, “, ”, Fiona Sibbett, Carlo Carmagnola, Météo, it’s, Carmagnola, There’s, Lallini, Luca Lallini, we’d, ” Lallini, bianca, Gennarino Di Stefano, Isidoro Francesi, ” CNN’s Camille Knight, Antonia Mortensen Organizations: Campo Felice, Italy CNN, CNN, Northern, Campo, ” CNN, Rocca, Cambio Locations: Italy, Rome, Météo France, Austria, Paris

☆ Skiing: A new artificial snow-making technology could offer a lifeline to struggling resorts
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Nestled in the Pyrenees mountains, La Molina is Spain’s oldest ski resort. An industry in perilSpain has been struggling with scorching heat waves and a years-long drought, and Catalonia, the region where La Molina is located, has been particularly hard hit. But La Molina is far from the only ski resort trying to plot a future in a warmer, dryer world. “Current best estimates are that 95% of ski resorts rely on snowmaking to some extent to remain viable,” Orr told CNN. That’s exactly what the La Molina project aims to do — to see if the lab results can be replicated in the real world.

Persons: Molina, La Molina, FGC, Albert Verdaguer, Verdaguer, ”, ” Verdaguer, It’s, Ramón Pascual Berghaenel, Madeleine Orr, ” Orr, Snow, Jordy Hendrikx, “, Hendrikx, La, Hendrickx, snowmaking, Laura Rodríguez, ” Hendrikx, let’s, Vedaguer Organizations: CNN, Laboratory, Barcelona Institute of Materials Science, Northern Locations: Spain, Catalonia, Europe, Antarctica New Zealand, La Molina

☆ Ski season needs fresh snow. Resorts are struggling as the climate crisis forces them to rely on fake snow to make money.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For Brendan Gibbons, snow rules the day. "I used to say, 'We'll get our snow," Gibbons, director of snow services for Palisades Tahoe, told Business Insider. "The entire business model and opportunities for profit are getting squeezed into a shorter season with lower quality snow," Mankin said. He worries that little ski towns will suffer the most as the climate crisis worsens and potentially consolidate into larger conglomerates. Areas where average winter temperatures exceed -8 degrees Celcius, or 17 degrees Fahrenheit, will lose more and more snowpack with each degree of warming.

Persons: Brendan Gibbons, Gibbons, Justin Mankin, haven't, they've, Mankin Organizations: Service, Business, Palisades, Northern Hemisphere, Northeastern, Dartmouth College Locations: Sierra Nevada, Southwestern, Europe, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Mankin, Palisade, Business

"Some are still just coming down that final stretch to open, especially for the fall-winter season, but we've come a long way and town is ready for the winter season. “We’re open for business and ready to go,” Mark Verespy, owner of The Killarney pub, said of the town. He isn’t sure yet what he will do with the flood-damaged Mr. Darcy’s Bar & Burger next door, but if he rebuilds, it won’t be ready for the winter season. After the flooding, Okemo, which sits on higher ground, was able to reopen its bike park, summer camp and scenic lift rides in late July. Now it’s preparing for the winter season and plans to start snowmaking next month.

Persons: Ludlow, Brendan McNamara, we've, Mark Verespy, McNamara, Troy Caruso, Darcy’s, ” Caruso, snowmaking, ” Courtney DiFiore, you’d, they’d, ”, David Del Tufo, It’s, Lisa Del Tufo, —, “, we’re Organizations: Vail Resorts, “ Locations: LUDLOW, Vt, Vermont, ” Ludlow, Killarney, “

☆ Italy's ski industry fires cannon against climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Stefano Bernabei | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/7] Skiers pass on an artificial snow slope as end of the ski season nears, in Monte Cimone, Italy, March 31, 2023. "The ski-lifts were closed, the ski instructors and seasonal workers had nothing to do and we lost 40% of our revenue for the whole season," said Luciano Magnani, head of the local consortium of ski tourism operators. Some 90% of Italy's pistes rely on artificial snow, compared with 70% in Austria, 50% in Switzerland and 39% in France, according to data from Italian Green lobby Legambiente. Italy's ski sector directly or indirectly employs 400,000 people and generates turnover of 11 billion euros ($11.92 billion), according to Anef data, equal to about 0.5% of national output. Some economists and climatologists argue that trying to keep low-altitude ski resorts in business is destined to fail, and snow-making merely delays the inevitable.

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