European ski resorts in crisis talks over worst snow season

Sparse snowfall and unseasonably warm weather in much of Europe is allowing green grass to blanket many mountaintops across the region. Photo / Matthias Schrader, AP

Mild weather has left many regions of Europe that would normally be blanketed in snow at this time of year bare, and winter sports resorts are fearing for the future.

Many are using snow machines to make artificial pistes, leaving thin white lines snaking through otherwise green and brown landscapes.

In the Swiss village of Adelboden, organizers of Saturday’s ski World Cup race grappled with above-freezing temperatures to ensure athletes could compete in the popular event while spectators basked in the blazing sunshine.

Experts say this season’s lack of snow offers a glimpse of winters to come, as global temperatures keep rising due to human-caused climate change.

Snow is a no show in Austria and much of Europe. Photo / Matthias Schrader, AP

The impact is likely to be felt far beyond the regional tourist industry. Winter snow in European mountains such as the Alps is an important natural water store for parts of a continent that’s already suffering regular droughts the rest of the year.

Last week over half of France’s ski slopes were closed, blaming the winter heat wave.

The weather caused by a “heat dome” - stretching from the Russian Urals to the French Pyrenees - has set record temperatures over the new year, causing problems for the lower altitude ski resorts.

Many of these popular winter ski destinations are now in crisis talks over whether they can remain open this year, reports The Times.

Arnaud Lemercier, ski manager at a resort near Grenoble, southeast France, expressed his disappointment to local news after being forced to close so early.

An artificial snow slope created for skiers in Wildhaus, Switzerland. Photo / Gian Ehrenzeller, Keystone via AP

“It’s heartbreaking. The slopes are no longer skiable. We reached the end,” he told France 3 TV.

“This is the first time that we have opened the pistes only to close them again in the middle of the season. There is a lot of disappointment among the staff.”

Sparse snowfall has caused headaches for ski slope operators and aficionados of Alpine white this time of year. Photo / Sven Hoppe, AP

Despite promising predictions and early December conditions the French national weather agency says it saw some of the warmest weather conditions ever over the new year.

The disappointing snow season caps a year of broken temperature records, forest fires and droughts across the country.

- Associated Press with additional reporting.