Summer skiing under threat
The Swiss resort of Engelberg has confirmed that it will not be opening the Titlis glacier for skiing this summer. It was due to host a snowboard camp next month but that has now been cancelled.
It joins a growing number of European resorts ending summer skiing as the glaciers melt and temperatures rise. Already this season Val d’Isere in France has delayed its opening as the conditions are not good enough.
Summer Resorts
This weekend though Saas Fee in Switzerland is open for summer skiing as planned. There will be 20km of piste and the funpark available. 3 T-bars will serve the ski area. Saas Fee remains one of the best resorts in The Alps for summer skiing with race teams and enthusiasts flocking to its slopes. Next door Zermatt is also open.
Other resorts open for glacier skiing include Tignes, Kaprun, Cervinia, Val Senales and Austria’s Hintertux glacier.
Glacier Covering
Some resorts are going to extra-ordinary lengths to preserve their glaciers by covering them up. In Andermatt 2 years ago a thin protective layer of foil was put down to cover 3,500 square meters of the Gurschen glacier. In the last 15 years the glacier has shrunk 20m making some of the ski areas very inaccessible. Now other resorts are copying their lead.
Verbier in Switzerland and the French resort of Val Thorens are both looking at the possibility of putting a reflective cover on parts of their glacier.
The glacier on the highest mountain in Germany, The Zugspitze, has been covered for more than 10 years in the summer months. The Zugspitze is in the Garmisch-Partenkichen ski area. In Spring the resort piles snow over parts of the glacier and then covers it with a reflective shield. The shield is 50% bigger than last year and now covers 9,000 square meters.
Loosing Battle
The area though realises it’s fighting a loosing battle. “It will be a shame if the glacier disappears and it’s sad to think that one day my children’s children won’t know what it feels or looks like”’ says Frank Huber, the manager of skiing operations in the area.
The Zugspitze glacier used to be 80 meters thick in 1910. Now it is only 45 meters. Researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland claim 70% of the country’s glaciers will disappear in the next 30 years due to the effects of climate change.
Scientists say that while the technique of covering glaciers might help preserve small areas, it will not address the problem of vanishing ice fields around the world. It would be totally impractical and economically unfeasible to cover up the glaciers entirely.
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Summer skiing under threat
