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Sunset on Telluride’s ski gondola. Image: Brooklyn Peppo
By Brooklyn Peppo
The ski lift is the only place that allows you to socially accept strangers.
I love the 10-minute conversations you can have while sitting on metal seats suspended 15 feet above the cliffs.
Faces are obscured by scarves and goggles, so identities remain a mystery.
Each run down the mountain provides a chance for a short meeting with a friend on the return trip, much like speed dating.
Recently, I rode a chair lift up with a man in Colorado’s Winter Park resort. He fell in love with skiing and retired in the mountains to continue his passion. As one would on a long chairlift ride up a mountain, he gave me his complete life summary.
He stated that he has had a few children, and now he has many grandchildren. His mission is to share his love for skiing with them. Once they’re old enough. He hopes to teach them all how to ski.
However, he worries that the sport won’t be the same for his young grandchildren. Climate change may mean that powder days will be shorter and runs will be restricted by shorter seasons and less snowfall.
“The planet could warm by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040 if we do nothing to change our current emissions,” according to the Protect Our Winters’ 2020 Annual Report.
Skiers share concerns about climate change. It is impossible for a skier to engage in the sport without cold temperatures.
The tracks of hundreds skiers cross the fresh powder in Snowbird Utah. Image: Brooklyn Peppo
“Our biggest issue is fighting Mother Nature, you know we can’t make snow with warm temperatures,” said Joe Breighner, the director of ski operations & property support at The Highlands resort in northern Michigan near Mackinaw City.
The outdoor sports industry has great economic benefits. Protect Our Winters, a non-profit advocacy group for pro-climate change policy, reports that the industry employs 7.6million people and generates $887 million in economic revenue worldwide. This industry is very vulnerable to weather conditions, and climate change could decimate it, reports POW.
Breighner said that the Highlands have seen an increase in snowfall in recent years. The resort will begin investing in new snow-making equipment that uses innovative technology and runs on low energy to make more snow faster.
Ski resorts must advocate for systematic changes to reduce emissions and slow global warming to plan for their long-term success, said Lora Bodmer, POW’s senior director of media and public relations.
Economic factors, in addition to climate change, are also contributing to the decline of skiing accessibility. The 2021 International Report on Snow & Mountain TourismReports indicate that there has been a decline of ski areas in the United States. 700 ski areas were in 1980s, but now only 500 are left.
Rising infrastructure costs and the increasing expectations of clients are driving small community ski hills out of business, according to the 2021 International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism. This makes it difficult to enter the sport for beginners.
Skiing is an amazing sport. Anyone can participate. It doesn’t necessarily require athleticism and isn’t too difficult to make it down the bunny hill with no experience.
It’s a hobby that I and millions of people across the world enjoy.
Its existence is threatened by climate change.
My joy of making friends with strangers while dangling from a chairlift is at risk if there is no policy change to reduce carbon emissions. Future generations, including that man’s grandchildren, will not have the same experience.
Brooklyn Peppo works as a reporter for Great Lakes Echo. This essay is part a series that examines the effects of a changing climate.
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