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January 13, 2008

Forget Skiing In The Future – Climate Change Kills Skiing Industry

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Written by: Marko Pyhajarvi
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This is a Doomsday article. Climate change is going to kill skiing industry. The amount of snow in this planet will decrease day by day until skiing in most of the countries is impossible. This is how I see it and it is based on real-life experience. Period.

Am I over-reacting? Maybe, maybe not. The fact is that our climate is not the same as some 20 years ago. Is it changing in the long run? I don’t know this field of science at all, but so many researchers claim that it is really happening so I believe in it. As you might have seen in this blog the climate here in Finland is not as it used to be (remember how Levi alpine ski cup race was canceled)? Winters are not as cold as they used to be and we get snow later and later every year. It is the middle of January right now and we don’t have snow in Helsinki in Finland. It is not normal and definitely it is not the same as it used to be. Based on this and what researchers claim, the climate is changing globally. It is warming. Skiing industry will die.

Climate IS changing. It is a fact now

Heh.. I am shooting big guns again. I won’t say more about the climate change because I am an amateur. I just don’t know enough about it. What I do know is that warmer climate is not good for most ski resorts, including my local little hill in Helsinki. Many ski resorts here in Finland (and of course in some other countries as well) have not really opened yet because of the lack of snow. Ski resorts may be open for three days and then closed for three weeks. This is not good for their business and one day it may lead them to quitting. If there is no snow, there are no skiers. If there are no skiers, there is no money exchanged. Without money there is no business, and when there is no business there is no skiing. Sad but true.

Let us assume that the temperature on this planet will be 2-3 degrees higher in 20 years. That kind of change would definitely lead to black winters at least here in southern Finland. It would lead to the death of skiing here. Skiing season would be shorter in north but the skiing industry would probably survive.

What would you do if skiing was dead?

What would you do if skiing was dead in your area? I would focus on mountain biking and road bicycling. Our summers would probably be longer and warmer so I would go riding some rad tracks in forests and mountains. Instead of a ski season in the Alps I would have a bike season in the Alps. If skiing was dead, it would not be a catastrophe for me, no way. Certainly I would miss skiing or riding my board in forests and on powder fields but i would of course need to get used to the new situation. I would put my energy into mountain biking even though I have some bad memories from the forests close to Basel in Switzerland. I crashed my bike due to high speed and a bad landing. The result was a broken shoulder.

Forget skiing and go swimming!

Skiing is dying, be prepared. What would you do if skiing was dead? Would you go riding a bike as well? Would you go surfing or diving? Today me and my friend discussed about what we would do if there was no need to go to work. I said I would play and listen to music all day long. My wife said she is very happy that I must go to work every morning. She would not like my idea of playing and listening to music all day long.. Hey! Why not!

Enjoy skiing as long as it is possible. It looks miserable here in rainy Helsinki..

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About the Author

Marko Pyhajarvi
I am an old-school alpine skier, snowboarder and telemarker, and I love writing. Therefore I founded Homeboy. I (too) enjoy powder, mountaineering and backcountry skiing as well as photographing. Nowadays, as an old fart, I mostly ski with my kids and focus on financing their hobbies.




 
 

 
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