Warmer winters costly to ski towns

Recently, I learned of a recent study by researchers Daniel Scott and Robert Steiger who claim that climate change is creating major damage to the American ski industry. Nothing unexpected, as I have been expressing my concern on the matter in recent blogs. 

Based on 226 US ski resorts, they’ve found out that ski seasons are getting shorter by about a week, on average. While this isn’t good news for skiers, it’s also costing the industry some $252 million every year as fewer people ski and more artificial snow is needed. This, however, is just a harbinger of things to come in coming years. 

Depending on how much global emissions are reduced, which is something that doesn’t look good at the moment, ski seasons could be two months shorter by mid century, with financial losses increasing from $657 million to $1.352 billion annually. To make things worst, the study says snow cover and season length will decrease at lower elevations. 

Since the 1970s, climate change has been rearing its ugly head. Now it’s quite clear that the trend is for real. Since 1981, there’s been an average global increase by about 0.18°C every decade. This was a reversal from the slow cooling trend observed over the previous 7,000 years, where temperatures fell by 0.01°C every century. 

In its Fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), affirms that these changes are directly caused by human activities. Clearly, the ski industry is running out of ammunition and even improvements in snow-making won’t suffice. 

Today, some Colorado communities that live from ski tourism, like Boulder County, San Miguel County, and the City of Boulder have sued ExxonMobil and Suncor, accusing them of contributing to climate change and causing them harm. The communities demand compensation for the harm already done and for future adaptation costs. Even the conservative US Supreme Court decided not to step in, allowing the case to continue in state court. 

The above-mentioned financial losses due to climate change are based on two main factors, decreased revenue from fewer skier visits and higher costs for producing snow. Obviously, these figures don’t account for the true economic impact as skiers’ spending goes far beyond the slopes and include a variety of goods and services at their destinations. 

At that level, this spending stimulates more business, increases personal income, creates jobs, and boosts government revenue. Factoring in these broader economic effects, especially with an economic multiplier for ski tourism spending, would increase the loss to these communities. My take on that study is that it still underestimate the severity of global warming on the future of skiing...

Another personal record?

If this may sound like bragging to you, so be it, I feel that at my age, I’m entitled to boast every now and then! 

On Thursday, I skied the Super Condor hill for about three and a half hours, did 25 laps non-stop and accumulated 46,023 feet (14,028 meters) of vertical. The typical spring snow was hard at first, but after one hour, it softened up before turning into slush, particularly near the bottom. 

That lift’s vertical drop is 1,780 feet (620 meters) and gets skiers to the top in less than 8 minutes. I skied each one of my 25 laps in less than 10 minutes. 

There were few skiers that day and only very good ones, so no line and there was the possibility of skiing very fast in relative safety. 

Many were carving in the mushy snow which, besides digging huge rails on the slope, and contributing to the mushy conditions, wasn’t the fastest way to handle the snow. Instead, it was better to edge softly in a shallow carve and let the skis slide fully. 

That was fun, there were many fast skiers on the hill, but no one passed the 76 year old grandpa...

“I’m a skier!”

Who are we really? Some of us are fine carpenters, other supreme chefs, great journalists and for me, I’m just a skier. Yeah, I’m the quintessential skier. I could have turned differently.

As a child, I loved to draw, imagine, think and ski. I chose the latter because it was much easier for me to succeed in it than the other two or three. It was also a lot easier to get fast gratification from it with tons of fun from the get go. 

So it became my sport of predilection (in fact, aside from hiking, the only one I knew and had been exposed to, as a child) and I made it my life, including my career. 

An easy and pleasant way into life, that didn’t change the world and certainly didn’t improve it. It just gave the richer folks that populate the richest countries an extra recreation outlet for enjoying their plush life, and that’s about it. 

If there were another turn or kind of reincarnation, I might choose to become a philosopher!

When appetite for the future wanes…

When I’m looking into the future, I realize that aging isn’t gentle for most people as desires, plans for the future and eagerness to create and undertake seem to diminish at an alarming speed and I wonder sometimes if we must sheepishly accept it or find ways to fight that dismal trend. Do you agree with that reality and if you too, are faced with it, what are your plans? 

I must admit that I have nothing specific and ready to battle that trend that I loath. Besides the transitional change that occurs when most of us become retired, general motivation is one of these declining markers and it’s often caused by physical limitations or chronic health problems that suck energy up and make it harder to engage in activities we once enjoyed. 

As we advance in age, we experience the loss of friends or family members, which can be emotionally draining and make it harder to feel good about the future. Finally, we also become more risk-averse and less willing to take on new challenges for fear of not succeeding. As a result, we fall into a downward spiral of routines and habits making us less inclined to seek out new experiences… 

It’s hard to argue with these realities, yet “experts” suggest we can counteract these negative factors by prioritizing healthy habits like exercise, good nutrition, and quality sleep, as an active and engaged mind needs a healthy body. We must also value and cultivate social interaction by maintaining strong relationships with family and friends, joining organizations or groups with shared interests. 

Then there’s the importance of setting new goals, big or small, to reignite a sense of purpose and direction. Also explore new hobbies, volunteering, taking a class, or planning a trip. The key is to step outside of our comfort zone and try new things, learning new skills or taking classes. 

Finally, keeping a positive mindset, working on things you can control and remaining grateful for what we have remains essential. Don’t forget to stay curious, find inspiration through biographies, celebrate accomplishments no matter how small and become an expert at embracing change. 

We all know that aging is a natural part of life. By staying healthy, connected, embracing new challenges, and maintaining a positive mindset, we can keep our desires, future plans, and creative fire burning bright for years to come.

Greta Thunberg’s book

I just finished reading “The Climate Book” not quite authored by the young environmental activist Greta Thunberg, but rather by a collection of thought and opinions gathered from over one hundred experts, ranging from geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and Indigenous leaders that have taken turns to share how vital it is for the rest of us to combat the climate disaster that is lurking at our door. 

Missing in that volume are any concerted effort to curb a still growing planetary human population. Aside from that, what I’ve learned from that book is that everything depends on the willingness of northern rich, developed nations to make some huge sacrifices in order to meet the goals of the Paris accords and stop weather deterioration. 

If the most affluent 10% of the global population produces 50% of the emissions, as the book states, we don’t need to look far as to where the obvious sacrifice needs to come from. No one, among the richest of us, will be willing to give up their material advantages that translate into high revenues, plush personal comfort and unlimited transportation. The absence of true political will is another revealing element. What’s more likely to happen is that when confronted with the irreparable, something will have to give. 

Will it be a war from the poor against the rich? From those who have no more place to live on, moving to the planet’s higher grounds, or from billions of destitute trying to get something from 800 millions of well off individuals? I don’t know exactly how ugly the situation will become to finally force us to share, but what’s certain is that it promises to be highly unpleasant for our posterity and I sincerely hope we won’t live to witness it…

Testing Tesla’s full-self-driving function…

On Saturday night, I received a notice from Tesla that another update for my car’s software was ready. As I always do, I downloaded it and on Easter morning I received a message that I had been granted a 30-day complimentary trial of the company’s full self-driving functionality through April 29. 

This is not a cheap feature; it can be tested for $199 per month or purchased outright for $15,000 (it’s only 7,500 euros on the other side of the pond!), following quick increases by Tesla from $10,000 to $12,000 earlier in 2022. 

On Easter Sunday we went to Salt Lake City to celebrate with my son and his family, and had a chance to test that new self-driving feature on both legs of our trip. We were very, very impressed by its performance (AI is a much better driver than me!) and thought that it would come in handy when we are becoming a tad older and are getting more anxious and far less inclined to drive. 

I was as tense and attentive as if my 16 year old child had done the driving! This said, I’d feel that paying $3,500 or maybe $5,000 might be worth it, but find that the $15,000 Elon Musk wants is simply extortion. 

We’ll see how the month long test goes and will let you know how we feel and what we’ll do about it when it ends... 

Collision course: Snow and physical shape

With a great snow year in Park City are coming signs of worsening winter conditions that don’t bode well for the future of skiing.

Frequent “Atmospheric Rivers” as well as El Niño, aren’t a good sign and very wet snow up high and rain down below, plus a record warm winter are colliding to extinguish the winters we used to know. At the same time my aging body isn’t quite what it used to be. No April Fool’s joke! 

The snow level goes up, my physical strength goes down. Both are clearly on a collision course, which will prevail? I sincerely hope it’s the snow that prevails for a reasonably long time, but I’m not so certain anymore...