{"id":10402,"date":"2026-03-10T10:52:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=10402"},"modified":"2026-03-10T10:52:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:52:58","slug":"climate-change-may-not-end-skiing-but-it-will-make-it-more-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/climate-change-may-not-end-skiing-but-it-will-make-it-more-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change may not end skiing. But it will make it more\u00a0exclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Winter Olympics just showcased alpine sport at its most spectacular and universal. But in the mountains themselves, access to winter sports is becoming increasingly unequal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of keeping slopes open in a warming climate is climbing \u2013 and so are prices for visitors. Investment will be concentrated in higher altitude resorts that are able to adapt, while smaller and lower areas fall behind. The key question for the future of skiing may not be whether it survives at all, but who it survives for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the UK, where skiing is associated with expensive foreign holidays, in Alpine regions it has become a mainstream hobby without the same class connotations. Born as a means of transport, more affordable equipment made it increasingly accessible to people beyond the mountains. In Italy, for instance, it is not unusual for state schools to take their pupils into the mountains for a traditional \u201csettimana bianca\u201d \u2013 white week \u2013 skiing holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each winter, locals and tourists together support a sector that accounts for roughly \u20ac12 billion (about \u00a310 billion) \u2013 that\u2019s 0.5% of Italy\u2019s national GDP, and a far higher percentage of the economy in mountain regions. Winter sports have become a major employer, as communities that once depended on seasonal farming and agriculture have progressively shifted to tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the climate conditions that made this possible are changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peak prices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With snow falling less and melting faster, resorts invest heavily in artificial snowmaking to maintain reliable winter seasons. These investments have worked \u2013 most ski runs in the Alps are now lined by modern snowmaking machines \u2013 but they also reshape the economics of skiing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because the cost is being passed on to skiers themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"snow<\/a>
A \u2018snow cannon\u2019 pumps out tiny droplets of water which turn to snow before they land. It uses lots of water and energy \u2013 but is very effective. krovsmolokom13 \/ shutterstock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

For instance in the Dolomiti Superski network, Italy\u2019s largest, a high-season daily pass has surged from \u20ac67 (\u00a359) in 2021 to around \u20ac86 (\u00a375) this year, a rise of 28% in three years. The cost of skiing in Europe has risen by 34.8% above inflation since 2015, with Swiss, Austrian, and Italian resorts mostly responsible for the price increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the US, prices are increasing even faster and American skiers are increasingly heading to relatively cheaper resorts in the Alps. Together with skiers from Russia and Eastern Europe who are wealthy enough to ignore the prices, they\u2019ve helped keep Alpine tourism fully booked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But skiing is less and less accessible for many less-affluent families, including many locals. Former Italian World Cup skier and TV commentator Paolo De Chiesa recently warned that skiing in Italy is becoming a sport for the elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As climate adaptation demands more and more investment, skiing will be increasingly concentrated in fewer higher altitude resorts. These resorts tend to be further into the mountains and already attract most of the wealthy tourists, which means they can also afford more snow-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"small<\/a>
A small airport in the ski resort of Courchevel, France, caters to the jet set. Maria Studio \/ shutterstock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Smaller and lower-altitude resorts with mostly local visitors are far more likely to struggle \u2013 many are already seeing their winter seasons shorten, and some have already closed entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When adaptation reshapes communities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These changes are felt most strongly in mountain communities themselves. One of us (Paolo) grew up a short drive from where the recent Winter Olympics were held. During his childhood most of his friends knew how to ski, but today only a handful of them can afford to take their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one side of a growing divide within ski tourism between places that can afford to adapt and those that cannot. Artificial snowmaking increases dependence on capital investment, energy and water. This favours large resorts which, over time, pass costs on to deep-pocketed visitors and local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, seasonal workers now often struggle to find accommodation as housing is prioritised for visitors. Narrow mountain roads are congested, parking is difficult, and public services are under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond winter-only tourism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If climate change is concentrating skiing in fewer, higher-altitude resorts, the change needs to be gradual and managed rather than sudden and brutal. Much of the industry still profits from the status quo and won\u2019t be keen to transition to other arrangements. That\u2019s why policymakers have a responsibility to guide the transition, starting with lower-altitude resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, diversification into year-round tourism, gastronomy, wellness, or other nature experiences is one way to build a more resilient future. Protecting the local community and more fairly distributing the revenues of the tourism is becoming as important as maintaining visitor numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investment and opportunity \u2013 and even snow itself \u2013 is being further concentrated in fewer spots. Technology may save skiing, but the question is for whom. A global affluent elite may be able to handle the price rises, while local people are increasingly excluded from the system they helped to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Paolo Aversa<\/a>, Professor of Strategy, King’s College London<\/a><\/em> and Juliane Reinecke<\/a>, Professor of Management Studies, Sa\u00efd Business School, University of Oxford<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Winter Olympics just showcased alpine sport at its most spectacular and universal. But in the mountains themselves,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[296,312],"class_list":["post-10402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-skiing","tag-winter-olympics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing.jpg",1280,853,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Science<\/a>","tag_info":"Science","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skiing.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10404,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10402\/revisions\/10404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}