Snow More Winter Sports? Climate Change is taking its toll
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When it gets cold outside, plenty of people grab their snow gear and head out for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. However, recent years have shown Canadians increasingly unpredictable weather. Climate change may make it more difficult for locals to enjoy the various options available in the Lower Mainland and will affect the Olympic Games for years to come.
The Beijing Olympics are the first Winter Games to use 100 per cent machine made snow. Past Winter Games used large amounts of artificial snow, including 80 per cent machine made in 2014 in Sochi, Russia and 98 per cent in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but Beijing is the first to solely use manmade snow.
A recent study published by the University of Waterloo analyzed 21 previous hosts of the Winter Olympics. Currently, nine host cities are rated reliable, eight are marginal, and four are already unreliable based on safety and fairness indicators identified by athletes and coaches. In a low emission situation based on the Paris Climate Agreement, the number of reliable hosts stay essentially the same. In a worse case scenario with high emissions, there are four reliable host cities by the 2050s and only one by the 2080s.
Artificial snow is an option for winter sports to continue even with climate change, but there are limitations. Snowmaking requires certain temperatures as well as lots of electricity and water. That may be sustainable in British Columbia, where there is plenty of hydropower and water sources, but may result in an even larger carbon footprint in other locations.
Closer to home, local mountains have started reacting to the changes. Cypress and Seymour Mountain resorts told Glacier Media about their adaptations in recent years, including investments in snowmaking equipment and off season grooming. When ski runs are made smoother by putting dirt on top, they require less snow to be operational. Additionally, mountains are becoming more than just winter enterprises. Trails and other outdoor activities are turning ski resorts into year round attractions.
An unpublished study draft by Michael Pidwirny, an associate professor with the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, examines the future of BC’s ski season. In a best case scenario model for climate emissions, he estimates that by the end of the century, the ski season will shorten by 53-103 days for coastal resorts and by 27-45 days for the Interior. Under a worse case model, the ski season will shorten by 103-136 days for coastal resorts and by 48-77 days for the Interior. In both models, Pidwirny estimates some resorts such as the local Cypress Mountain will have no ski season at all.
In future, snow enthusiasts may lose accessibility or have to travel further to find snow sports.
What about the seasonal tourists who come here to ski or snowboard? BC’s economy will likely take a hit. The province has an estimated tourism export revenue of $3.5 billion, 25 per cent of which is based in Whistler, according to a 2016 economic planning report.
The effects have already been felt locally. At Whistler Blackcomb, the Camp of Champions was a snowpark based on the Horstman Glacier. Olympians from across the globe went there to train, but in 2017 it declared bankruptcy and closed permanently. The glacier was gone; it had lost over 140 vertical feet of ice in the 30 years it was open.
While there will probably still be winter sports for years to come, within a lifetime irreversible changes will happen to the way people enjoy the season.