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Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

switzerlandtimes.ch

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Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#111

Post by wnscooke »

MopMop wrote: post #51

It sounds more like a swiss town in crises. The local economy probably relies on visitors coming during the snow season to provide for the rest of the year. It is nothing to do with greed.

The actual Swiss we interacted with were the most rude and dismissive hosts I’ve ever had to meet. The times when someone (at a restaurant, chalet, train station, truck/road stop) was kind and patient surprised us… and they always ended up being non-Swiss temp workers. I wonder where those workers will go; they are the ones who are going to need financial help with any transition because the Swiss will finally get what we heard many grumbling about - no more tourists.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#112

Post by Foobar8568 »

bonzini wrote: post #91
Freak_NL wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not limited to Switzerland, but to all the alpine regions in Europe; i.e., also France, Germany, and Austria. Only northern Italy seems to have faired a little bit better, but that is just meteorological luck.

We had a normal beginning of December, but now it's been easily February weather for a couple weeks and forecast isn't any different. Temperatures in Rome last week were more typical of Easter than Christmas; northern Italy was not as extreme only because it's cloudy.

Temperatures reached 20°C in south France, I've even been bitten by mosquitoes (to my surprise, no tiger ones), and did killed a few. What used to be a rare occurrence even in summer, happens during the supposed coolest months.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#113

Post by alpaca128 »

nsxwolf wrote: post #41
macNchz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Is not dumping some snow with a helicopter going to prevent the sea levels from rising? Or would that require something on the scale of banning all aviation forever?

No single raindrop feels responsible for the flood.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#114

Post by xeromal »

LeonM wrote: post #44
seanalltogether wrote: post #20

Am I right in thinking that Gstaad is like the Aspen of Switzerland, one of the richest ski resort towns? Is this why they can get away with helicoptering in snow?

Switzerland is a rich country, and just about every ski resort is outrageously expensive (think 14 euro for a beer, 35 for a pizza, 150+/night for a hotel, 50+/day slopes). So financially, they can definitely get away with helicoptering in snow. The most exclusive ones are probably St. Moritz, Zermatt and Lech, not so sure about Gstaad.

When you listed your prices, I was awed by the expense of the beer and pizza, but once you got to the hotels and ski pass, the prices look very reasonable for the US. I pulled up Snowbird in Salt Lake City, Utah which has some of the best skiing in the US and not even fancy like Aspen, Colorado. A hotel up there on a Wednesday in two weeks is 454USD per night. Lift tickets are 142USD per day.

Blows my mind. When I skied there in college in 2012, they were roughly 60-80USD per day and they had free ski between 1500-1700.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#115

Post by sva_ »

mythhouse wrote: post #46
Logans_Run wrote: post #2

Global warming being caused in part by internal combustion engines and aviation results in less snow for skiers... Solution? Chopper some more snow in to counter the effects of I.C.E's and aviation. Huhmmmm.... Does anyone else spot a dichotomy in thinking here?

> Huhmmmm.... Does anyone else spot a dichotomy in thinking here? No because we've accepted rich flying their private jets and lecturing everyone about how they are causing climate change by driving their suv to drop off kids at school. This isn't any weirder than that.

Everyone always has some special reason justifying what they do.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#116

Post by leejo »

Gstaad is quite an exclusive resort, but is relatively low level - the village is at about 1,000m. I once shot some photos for the local ski club at one of the slopes there and they wouldn't let anyone but the racers use the piste as they wanted to keep it in good condition. IIRC it was one of the privately owned runs, and they really didn't want this snowboarder wrecking the piste so I had to hike up to shoot photos...

Anyway, Gstaad is not far from Glacier 3000 which has most of its slopes at, yes, 3,000m, so anyone in Gstaad doesn't have to go far for (currently) guaranteed snow. The snow up there should be pretty good.

Lack of snow in this region isn't unusual at this time of year, we had a good amount at the beginning of Dec. What has been unusual is the high temperatures, which has meant that snow is now mostly gone and the snow generating machines are of no use. We've also had a lot of rain, which has made managing the existing snow difficult.

This is the future of low to mid level resorts however. In a couple of generations time they won't be able to offer skiing, or the length of the ski season will be significantly reduced. I shot a photo project on this when I first arrived here, nearly a decade ago: https://www.formulanon.com/switzerland-bergbahnen

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#117

Post by xeromal »

lscdlscd wrote: post #80
LeonM wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Switzerland is a rich country, and just about every ski resort is outrageously expensive (think 14 euro for a beer, 35 for a pizza, 150+/night for a hotel, 50+/day slopes). So financially, they can definitely get away with helicoptering in snow. The most exclusive ones are probably St. Moritz, Zermatt and Lech, not so sure about Gstaad.

Other than the pizza and beer, I challenge you to find a ski resort in Colorado/Utah much cheaper than the prices you listed. It's crazy here in the US. I'll be spending a week skiing in Austria next week and altogether it's cheaper than a week of skiing in Colorado.

I just replied to OP too. Skiing in SLC is also ridiculous. Hotel is 500 a night and ski lift tickets start at 142. lmao.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#118

Post by sschueller »

thewhitetulip wrote: post #9

I know Europe isn't as anti climate change as US but I really hope rhat the world atarts taking this seriously When Europe is as hot as Asia during summers and as hot as Asia during respective winters that clearly proves beyond a shadow of doubt that global warming is real Because Trump had said "it is snowing here" to justify xlimate denying. They have extreme polar vortex over there so they haven't yet faced the se…

Sadly this is a global problem and no matter what tiny Switzerland does to be green, it has almost zero effect when the big polluters are still arguing if climate change is real.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#119

Post by scythe »

JCM9 wrote: post #110

The east coast of the US has long used extensive snowmaking capacity to keep slopes open. Most resorts in the east have plenty of cold air, but natural snow is iffy at best for long periods. It’s now common for resorts in the east to have 100% (or close to it) of the mountain equipped with snow guns. It’s not fluffy powder but creates a perfectly acceptable surface. However if the problem these Swiss resorts are havi…

Recently, ski resorts around Cleveland have been closed due to warm conditions as well:

https://www.alpinevalleyohio.com/

The Great Lakes, except Superior, are nearly ice-free right now. In January! It's not looking good.

Re: Switzerland: snow flown in by helicopter in attempt to keep ski slopes open

#120

Post by sschueller »

tduberne wrote: post #77
dashdot wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of Aspens in Switzerland. But seriously, I hope there will be consequences. Everyone in my bubble disapproves this strongly. Yes, there is not much snow. Yes, it is crippling snow tourism. But I can't imagine there are a lot of Swiss people who think that flying in snow is justified in any way.

I do not live in Switzerland anymore, so I cannot do a survey, but I can tell you helicopters are used an absurd amount in Switzerland, and everyone seems fine with it. For instance I personally saw, with my own eyes, helicopters used to: - install an AC unit on the roof of a university building - move building material from one side of campus to the other side - extract dead trees from a small forest with an extensi…

It's not cheap but in many cases it's the only way, logging on steep hills or supplies for very remote regions etc.. Only 50% of what Air Zermatt does is rescue.
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