Does artificial snow production pay under future climate conditions? – A case study for a vulnerable ski area in Austria

Damm, Andrea; Köberl, Judith; Prettenthaler, Franz

doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2014.01.009

Cited by 89 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Characterizing the actual mass of MM snow that can be recovered on ski slopes from a given mass of water remains a major issue for ski resorts regarding the current development of snowmaking facilities (Spandre et al, 2015) and the related costs of investments and production (Damm et al, 2014). Significant water losses may question the economical interest of snowmaking for resorts where periods with suitable meteorological conditions are limited in addition to deteriorating factors for the efficiency of MM snow (obstacles e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hughes and Robinson, 1996). Snowmaking has been the main concern of recent investigations concerning the impact of climate change on the ski industry (Scott et al, 2003;Hennessy et al, 2007;Steiger, 2010;Pütz et al, 2011;Damm et al, 2014). To the best of our knowledge however, none of these results accounted for the efficiency of the snowmaking process i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Determination of snowmaking efficiency on a ski slope from observations and modelling of snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The production of Machine Made (MM) snow is now generalized in ski resorts and represents the most common method of adaptation for mitigating the impact of a lack of snow on skiing. Most investigations of correlations between snow conditions and the ski industry's economy focus on the production of MM snow though not one of these has taken into account the efficiency of the snowmaking process. The present study consists of observations of snow conditions (depth and mass) using a Differential GPS method and snow density coring, following snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation in Les Deux Alpes ski resort (French Alps). A detailed physically based snowpack model accounting for grooming and snowmaking was used to compute the seasonal evolution of the snowpack and compared to the observations. Our results show that approximately 30 % of the water mass can be recovered as MM snow within 10 m from the center of a MM snow pile after production and 50 % within 20 m. Observations and simulations on the ski slope were relatively consistent with 60 % (±10 %) of the water mass used for snowmaking within the limits of the ski slope. Losses due to thermodynamic effects were estimated in the current case example to be less than 10 % of the total water mass. These results suggest that even in ideal conditions for production a significant fraction of the water used for snowmaking can not be found as MM snow within the limits of the ski slope with most of the missing fraction of water. This is due to site dependent characteristics (e.g. meteorological conditions, topography).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Determination of snowmaking efficiency on a ski slope from observations and modelling of snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation

et al. 2017

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“…Snowmaking facilities can compensate for the lack of natural snow. Previous studies for the European Alps suggest that the sensitivity of skier visits to natural snow can be partly balanced by the level of snowmaking investments (Damm, Köberl & Prettenthaler, 2014;Gonseth, 2013;Steiger & Stötter, 2013). The snowmaking capacity can be measured by the percentage of ski runs or ski-able terrain equipped with snowmaking facilities.…”

Section: Empirical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate zone crucial for efficiency of ski lift operators

Falk

Hagsten

2017

Current Issues in Tourism

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Abstract:This paper investigates the efficiency of ski lift companies across different climate zones in a group of countries based on establishment data. By a joint estimation of the stochastic frontier production and efficiency equations, the results indicate that ski areas in subarctic climate zones are far more efficient than their counterparts in warmer zones. Presence of a large local market and elevation of the ski area are factors not relevant for efficiency. Output of ski lift operators (companies) increases with the length of ski runs, number of ski lifts, share of slopes covered by snowmaking facilities and availability of fast lifts. Productivity is also significantly higher for ski lift companies owned by a large conglomerate.

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“…Skistar is the largest. Unique features of Swedish mountains and ski resorts are the small vertical drop (Moen & Fredman, 2007;Fredman et al, 2014) Numerous studies have examined the determinants of snow based winter tourism (for Australia see Pickering, 2011, for Austria see Steiger, 2011and Damm et al, 2014for France Falk, 2015;for Japan Fukushima et al, 2002;for Switzerland Gonseth, 2013; for the United States Hamilton et al, 2007, Shih et al, 2009, Dawson et al, 2009and Holmgren & McCracken, 2014. Lift ticket sales, skier visits or number of passengers transported uphill are commonly employed as measures of winter tourism demand.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of early snowfall for Swedish ski resorts: Evidence based on monthly data

Falk

Hagsten

2016

Tourism Management

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Does artificial snow production pay under future climate conditions? – A case study for a vulnerable ski area in Austria

Cited by 89 publications

References 18 publications

Determination of snowmaking efficiency on a ski slope from observations and modelling of snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation

Determination of snowmaking efficiency on a ski slope from observations and modelling of snowmaking events and seasonal snow accumulation

Climate zone crucial for efficiency of ski lift operators

Importance of early snowfall for Swedish ski resorts: Evidence based on monthly data

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