End of Ski Season review

Phew! What a season it has been for skiing and snowboarding. I was fortunate to get some good skiing in before Christmas, but in general it has been a dismal season for everyone.

The Swiss lift operators association (Seilbahnen Schweiz/Remontées Mécaniques Suisses) has published its analysis of the season up until the end of March – which for all but a handful of resorts is end of season.

The lift operators report a grim picture. By the end of March, lift usage and turnover in Switzerland had fallen by 24% in total, compared to the 2018/19 winter season. Large resorts, dependent on international visitors, have suffered most, but the closure of bars and restaurants has also deterred local winter sports enthusiasts. Additionally, ski camps and club and business trips have not taken place. Ski lifts in the Prealps and in areas close to towns, which cater more for day tourists, have not done quite as badly. Ticino has actually done quite well compared to 2018/19, but that was a season where the canton suffered from a lack of adequate snow – something that cannot be said of this season, where the snow conditions remain very good in those resorts still open.

On the whole comparison with the 2018/19 season is more meaningful than for 2019/20, because Covid-19 had an impact on the latter part of the 2019/20 season. It was hard to forecast a year ago we would be where we are now, and it is only with some optimism that we can look forward to next year being without some restrictions. None the less, overseas visitors are booking in advance for next season like never before, with many winter tour operators reporting bumper bookings.

The long-term impact on the lift operators is hard to gauge. Despite running at a considerable loss this season, lift operators have seen themselves as providing a public service and largely remained open. If the ski lifts had closed, mountain regions would have faced a shutdown of even more tourist activities, resulting in greater economic damage than has anyway been inflicted. Government support, the lift operators association says, is needed to avoid systemic damage to tourism.

The impact on the whole winter sports infrastructure is devastating. Some businesses will not return, others will cancel plans for expansion or investment. Many resorts were already worried about the long-term impact of climate change, and Covid-19 is hardly likely to positively impact their thinking. Additionally, with ski resorts being amongst the Covid-19 hotspots at the start of the pandemic, the image of winter sports has suffered.

I think the ski industry will recover strongly, although the level of growth will likely be lower than in previous years. From a sustainability perspective and in light of the impact of climate change, that is probably not a bad thing.

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Ski Movies – Part 2

Streif- One Hello of a Ride (2014)

This film is about the famous annual Hahnenkamm race, the toughest on the FIS downhill circuit. It takes place in Kitzbühel, Austria. You can see the movie at the Red Bull web site, and it’s probably the best ski documentary out there.

Frozen (2010)

No, not that Frozen. This one is about three skiers trapped on a ski lift in Snowbasin, Utah, after the resort has closed for the night. Enough to put you off that crazy run to catch the last chairlift before the mountain closes.

Low budget it may be, but it is definitely watchable and pretty scary.

Eddie the Eagle (2016)

If you can take clichés and sentimentality, you will probably like this story of Britain’s most famous ski jumper.

Fly like an eagle

SKI School (1990)/Ski School 2 (1994)

Judge for yourself whether the antics of a bunch of ski instructors, mainly filmed in Whistler, is to your taste. However the first of the two does enjoy something of a cult following amongst people of a certain age.

Extreme Ops (2002)

In what is probably not Rupert Graves’s finest outing, a film crew and three snowboarders go on a trip to a remote part of the Austrian Alps to film some stunts. Unbeknown to them they stumble across the hideout of a thuggish Serbian war criminal. What could possibly go wrong? Although the ski scenes are staged as being on the former Yugoslavian border, filming seems to have taken place at various locations, including Verbier.

More winter sports movies to come…

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