Nic Oatridge – Alpine Winter Sports

24/05/202424/06/2024

What is artificial snow?

The rise of artificial snow is inexorable. In 2009 about a fifth of slopes in the French Alps were supplied by snow-machines. Today it is over half, and rising fast. In some resorts in America the artificial takeover is nearly total. According to International Ski Federation rules, it would now effectively be impossible to make competition-grade slopes without using artificial snow.

An article in 1843 magazine provides the following explanation of what artificial snow is:

Snow machines take water, mix it with compressed air and blast it into a mist of tiny droplets that freeze into hard balls of ice as they fall to the ground. Under a microscope, these look nothing like snow crystals. They’re just lumpen spheres crammed together like misshapen Maltesers. Snow machines have two big advantages beyond the obvious: creating snow when none is falling. First, artificial snow is about 50 times harder than the real stuff, which makes it far less likely to melt. Compared with a piste of natural snow, an artificial one will last up to five weeks longer when temperatures rise above zero. Second, the structure of artificial snow is uniform. The natural sort settles into packs with wildly different textures.

This different structure of artificial snow can have a negative impact on the mountain ecosystem.

And why is it sometimes too warm to make snow even when it is below freezing? the article continues:

What matters for snowmaking is the combination of air temperature and humidity, what’s known as “wet-bulb temperature”. Just as human bodies struggle to cool down on humid days, so snowflakes struggle to freeze in moist air. At a wet-bulb temperature of -8℃, which, for example, registers when the air temperature is -5℃ and the humidity a low 20%, it’s easy to make snow. But as the air’s cooling capacity declines, snowmakers have to compensate by pumping less water through the machines. The result is ruinous inefficiency. It takes three times as much energy – and three times longer – to make a cubic metre of snow at a wet-bulb reading of -4℃ as it does at -8℃. At -3℃, you’re using quadruple the energy you needed at -8℃ – though it’s technically possible to make snow, you’d really rather not. Above -2℃, forget about it. The water won’t freeze as it falls to the ground.

Even snow machines do not provide a complete solution for global warming. Human ingenuity is finding increasing numbers of ways to keep skiing viable, but at a cost.

Artificial snow is an environmental disaster. Typically a ski resort will use a billion litres of water in a season to produce artificial snow, with as much as 40% of the water lost through leakage, evaporation or because artificial flakes blow away from the piste they’re supposed to land on. Snowmaking also accounts for approximately 50% of the average American ski resort’s energy costs

24/04/202424/06/2024

Skiing in China

When Beijing secured the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, encouraged the populace to embrace winter sports enthusiastically. This led to the construction of new resorts. The government claims that around 300 million Chinese citizens (from a population of 1.4 billion) have participated in winter sports since 2015. Although this figure may be exaggerated, the campaign appears to resonate more with middle-class Chinese than other more ideologically driven initiatives.

“If sports are strong, a nation is strong,” Xi Jinping has stated. China secured just one gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but this number rose to nine in 2022. Part of this success was due to the naturalization of foreign athletes, such as Eileen Gu, an American-born freestyle skier who chose to compete for China and became a prominent figure during the Beijing games. She won two gold medals at the Olympics and another victory at the Freestyle Skiing World Cup in December, held in China.

However, the government’s push for winter sports extends beyond medal acquisition. China’s latest five-year plan includes targets for increased participation in sports and physical exercise, aiming primarily to enhance public fitness. In 2020, the National Health Commission reported that about half of China’s population is overweight. Additionally, the state hopes to encourage Chinese holidaymakers to spend their money on domestic activities, like skiing.

Most Chinese skiers are beginners, so there are few complaints about the country’s ski destinations, which typically feature small slopes with gentle inclines. The largest Chinese resorts are comparable to small European ones. At Mission Hills, more space is dedicated to photo opportunities and arcade games than to skiing. However, those who conquer its simple run can anticipate the opening of the world’s largest indoor ski center in Shenzhen in 2025.

For now, Chinese skiers seeking more challenging terrain might look to Xinjiang in the northwest, with its high mountains and lengthy winters. Xinjiang boasts 64 ski resorts, nearly 10% of China’s total. According to Xinhua, the state news agency, visitors to the skiing haven of Altay increased six-fold over the five years leading up to 2022. While this tourism surge boosts the local economy, it also diverts attention from the human rights abuses that the government has perpetrated in Xinjiang over the past decade.

14/03/202424/06/2024

Which are the most expensive resorts in Europe?

Which are the most expensive ski resorts in Europe? A recent survey, published at Statista rated the following the most expensive (prices given are average price per day in Euros):

Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) 258
Obergurgl-Hochgurgl (Austria) 254
Zermatt (Switzerland) 250
Hintertux Glacier (Austria) 224
Gitschberg Jochtal (Italy) 221
Madonna di Campiglio (Italy) 217 3
Zinnen Dolomites (Italy) 211
Val Gardena (Italy) 202
Verbier/La Tzoumaz (Switzerland) 197
Kitzbühel/Kirchberg/Kitzski (Austria) 197
Saas-Fee (Switzerland) 192
Arosa-Lenzerheide (Switzerland) 191
St. Moritz – Corviglia (Switzerland) 188
Ischgl (Austria) 187
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis (Austria) 187
Obertauern (Austria) 186
Kühtai (Austria) 185
Samnaun (Switzerland) 182
Parsenn-Davos-Klosters (Switzerland) 181
Obersaxenmundaunval-Lumnezia (Switzerland) 177

05/01/202407/03/2024

Skiing in Europe compared to the USA

The Daily Telegraph, writing on the acquisition of ski resorts in Europe by Vail Resorts, drew up this list of comparisons between North American and European skiing.

	North America	Europe
Accommodation	Holidaymakers have the choice of a condo-style, self-catered apartment, or a hotel. Expect even the smallest rooms to be massive by European standards.	While continental Europeans have always preferred hotels, catered chalets – a dying breed post-Brexit – are still a firm British favourite. There are increasing self-catered options, but to American eyes, the classic French apartment, with bunk beds in the hallway and a sofa bed in the lounge, looks more rabbit hutch than holiday home. Edit value
Lift passes	Thanks in part to the Epic/Ikon business model, lift pass prices in the US are sky-high if you pay on the day. If you’re going skiing often, and especially if you’re travelling to different resorts, one of the multi-resort passes – which cost around $1,000 (£790) for the season – offers impressive value for money.	Day pass prices have soared recently, but the savings on week-long holiday passes are still significant. Season-long passes are pricier than their US equivalents, and only really worth it for seasonaires or those living close to a resort.
On-slope etiquette	You know those ralentir/langsam/ “slow” signs that everyone blithely ignores in France? Do that in the States and you might find ski patrol confiscating your lift pass. Not only are rules more strictly enforced, but lift queues are also more politely observed, with staff matching up groups to maximise capacity.	The European approach to health and safety tends to be a little more laissez-faire. On the plus side, you’re also less likely to end up facing a lawsuit. Queue etiquette is often governed by who has the sharpest elbows.
Resort management	US ski resorts tend to be on private land and owned by one of two large companies. Vail Resorts owns 37 across the United States and Canada, including big names like Whistler and Heavenly Lake Tahoe. The Alterra Mountain Company owns 17. Small operations still exist, but increasingly, they’re disappearing.	In most European ski resorts, the land is owned by the municipal government, which then grants licences to lift operators. There are big lift owners, like France’s Compagnie des Alpes which runs 10 resorts, including Val d’Isere, Tignes, and La Plagne, but none approaching the dominance of the US duopoly.
Après	Expect pitchers of craft beer, plates of cheese-laden nachos, and a well-drilled covers band banging through all-American classics like Free Bird or Wagon Wheel. Fun, but usually pretty well-ordered. Skiing drunk is usually frowned upon.	France’s Folie Douce bars – and the drunken end-of-day ski down afterwards – would never be allowed in the States, but when it comes to proper après parties, no one beats the Austrians. If you’ve not danced on a table to the awful accordion remix of Take Me Home, Country Roads while drinking the medical-grade ethanol they sell as “schnapps”, have you really been skiing?
Off-piste rules	Almost all US ski resorts have “in-bounds” backcountry areas that remain un-groomed but are otherwise just like pistes. They’re safe, and controlled for avalanches, but often crowded on powder days. Duck beneath the ropes into the “out of bounds” areas and you’re on your own.	Anything that’s not groomed in Europe is off-piste, and ridden at your own risk, but the pisteurs will still secure the area closest to the pistes for avalanches. Search and rescue won’t discriminate if you venture beyond that, either.
Resort ownership	Many US resorts are essentially company towns, where everything – from the ski schools to the bars and restaurants, to the bulk of the accommodation – is owned by the same corporate entity.	European resorts tend to be made up of a mix of independent businesses – family-run hotels and restaurants rubbing shoulders with the occasional bigger chain.

Seven differences between skiing in North America and Europe

Do you agree?

I’ve skied a dozen or so resorts in North America, and dozens in Europe. I’ve enjoyed them all, but Europe edges it for me with it’s cute villages and variety of cultures – both the local cultures and that of the visitors.

One big difference I saw between the two is that in the USA skiers don’t always put down the safety bar on chair lifts. Could never figure that out and never got round to asking.