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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

#121

Post by macNchz »

drstewart wrote: post #82
macNchz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

I am generally not inclined to engage with comments like this, but in this case I will: I am a pragmatist and not an absolutist, stopping all tourism is obviously a non-starter, so are other things that would be high impact like making everyone be vegan or banning gasoline outright. Burning tons of fuel to haul snow to a place that no longer gets enough snow because of how much fuel we've burned is, in my opinion... not in that category. I also think that people do not have to be "perfect" themselves before advocating for change.

On the topic of wilderness trips: I am of the mind that many people are totally disconnected from the natural world these days, and people are not generally inclined to care about things in the abstract. Getting out in nature has been demonstrated to promote environmentalism^, so if people are going to be traveling anyway, these are trips that could have some impact.

^ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8305895/

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

#122

Post by scythe »

perihelions wrote: post #48

HN: proudly carrying the torch of the late, great Twitter in turning molehills into blazing novas of righteous outrage. One helicopter. *One*.

The story is interesting more for the forboding quality than "outrage" IMHO.

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

#123

Post by Sharlin »

dylan604 wrote: post #109
Sharlin wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, "last 5-10 years" is pretty new. I doubt such measures were needed even a few decades ago.

I started skiing in the 80s, and even then they had snow machines to make snow when it was lean times. Seems much more practical than using helicopters.

Sure. But presumably they're using a helicopter now to patch up spots where the use of snow cannons is not feasible.

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

#124

Post by kiliantics »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #5
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?

There is like 115,000 commercial flights a day. Complaining about the impact of celeb x or one off flights is just silly.

why not both? the population of the super wealthy is getting pretty large and they take a lot of flights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBNcYxHJPLE

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

#125

Post by nradov »

saiya-jin wrote: post #105
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Air conditioning is relatively efficient compared to driving a 2000 pound steel box 30 miles down the road (and back) to buy eggs.

This was 1 chopper doing private property management to increase its value, yet outrage here resembles end of world... lets be a bit smarter. Ie one can save 1000x more energy every year to resettle people from places like Phoenix to location where AC nor heating is not needed. We can sit all day coming up with fantasies what to ban to cut down energy consumption

Which places in the USA don't need AC nor heating? How much would it cost to resettle everyone in Phoenix?

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

#126

Post by dwighttk »

dylan604 wrote: post #109
Sharlin wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, "last 5-10 years" is pretty new. I doubt such measures were needed even a few decades ago.

I started skiing in the 80s, and even then they had snow machines to make snow when it was lean times. Seems much more practical than using helicopters.

Article mentioned that “snow cannons” weren’t working and the helicopter didn’t work either

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

#127

Post by mrpopo »

izacus wrote: post #61
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?

> 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? Well, they're doing it to keep their income and profits coming. A major part of it in fact - probably half the yearly income. Since you're probably from a…

Not really the same thing. Snow in low-altitude stations is running out. Bringing it in via helicopter is not gonna work forever. People cannot keep relying on it for their income.

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

#128

Post by anon23anon »

leejo wrote: post #116

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…

How do snowboarders wreck the slopes anymore than skiers?

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

#129

Post by hef19898 »

leejo wrote: post #116

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…

Tgat slopes are closed for competition or training is normal in the alps so, nothing special about Gstaad here.

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

#130

Post by tgv »

lazide wrote: post #86
tgv wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're open to taxing for carbon footprint (to put it loosely), and it seems that that's your argument, you'll find that ski trips are going to be very costly, even more so when adding the cost of generating snow.

Ski trips are already very costly? And people pay it.

Lower middle class can afford it and go on one or two more holidays each year. It's not expensive enough to force choices.
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