5 contradictions in winter sports: how can the climate turnaround succeed?

• Contradiction 1: Climate protection vs. snow safety

• Contradiction 2: Planning vs. spontaneity

• Contradiction 3: Costs vs. turnover

• Contradiction 4: Shortage of skilled workers vs. job security

• Contradiction 5: Performance vs. recycling

We all know and love it: the magic of winter. Snowflakes dance gently to the ground, a white blanket covers our everyday stress. Noise is muffled, the pace is slowed down. Snowmen, sledges, skiing fun instead of staff shortages, price pressure and presentations. And despite the climate crisis and melting glaciers they will continue to existThe snow days, when the experience of nature unites people from young to old in fun in a way that hardly any other event can. "The snow offers us an alternative world to everyday life. We can make turns wherever we want. We experience freedom and exercise, which has been proven to have enormous health benefits, even when we are out and about on foot in these enchanted landscapes," emphasized Professor Ralf Roth, Head of the Institute for Outdoor Sports and Environmental Research at the German Sport University Cologne, at ISPO Munich. "That's why every winter sports enthusiast should be a climate protector in their own right."

According to Skimagazin, around 125 million cubic meters of water are used for technical snowmaking throughout the Alps. At least around 300 billion cubic meters of precipitation fall on the approximately 200,000 square kilometers of the Alps every year. Snowmaking accounts for only 0.04 percent of this. Jörn Homburg, Head of Marketing and Product Development at Oberstdorf-Kleinwalsertal Bergbahnen, also explained that the water for snowmaking comes from reservoirs and flows back into the natural cycle when the snow melts. "The bottom line is that we use zero liters of water for snowmaking, we borrow it and return it in full to nature in spring."

In fact, the energy consumption of ski resorts only accounts for a very small proportion of total energy requirements. In Austria, according to a study by the Federal Environment Agency, it accounts for 0.9 percent of national final energy consumption for winter tourism as a whole, including gastronomy and accommodation. In addition, ski resorts obtain an above-average proportion of their electricity from renewable sources. According to Skimagazin, this figure is already almost 90 percent in Austria and around 74 percent in Germany, according to Jörn Homburg. With the expansion of photovoltaic systems and new large pumped storage power plants - such as in Kühtai, Tauernbach-Gruben or Limberg III in Kaprun - this proportion will continue to rise. Panel participant Beate Rubatscher-Larcher, Managing Director of the Kaunertal and Pitztal glacier lifts, drew a vivid comparison with energy consumption: "Half an hour of jet skiing in summer consumes as much energy as 5.5 days of skiing. We simply have to look at the ratios more closely.

In addition to snowmaking, the snow groomers are the main contributors to the eco-balance. According to calculations by the "Snow Space Salzburg" ski resort, more than half of the CO2 emissions are caused by the vehicle fleet. A snow groomer consumes up to 500 liters of diesel per day. Although some new models already have a hybrid drive, which roughly halves consumption, complete electrification is not yet in sight, apart from caterpillars for cross-country ski trails. However, the newer snow groomers from Kässbohrer or Leitner can be operated with HVO fuels (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) on a vegetable basis, for example from deep-frying fat. This reduces CO2 emissions by 90 percent. In the Oberstdorf-Kleinwalsertal ski area, HVO is already being used for all piste rollers are already in use. "This saves around 1,800 tons of CO2 per season and reduces our ecological footprint by 60 percent," says Jörn Homburg. For its part, Prinoth AG hopes to go into series production with a hydrogen-powered snow groomer in 2025. Regardless of the drive system, geodata and snow depth measurements already ensure that the snow groomers are used as efficiently as possible. This saves snow and energy.

Together with the regional association of cable cars and Tirol Werbung GmbH, the Austrian Federal Railways have put together attractive vacation packages that combine travel by train with ski passes for the major Tyrolean ski resorts. These combination tickets including the "Nightjet" night train are becoming increasingly popular, especially in Germany and the Netherlands. Other ski resorts are also promoting climate-friendly travel, for example by offering discounts on ski passes or discounted equipment hire.

"We are still seeing a profit from the price increases, but this could become a problem in the long term if guests stay away," confirms study author Mike Partel to the magazine "Seilbahnen International". If the snow-sure season is shorter and the supply becomes scarcer or more effort has to be made to maintain the supply, prices at high altitudes could continue to rise - and the regions could reach their limits. Around a third of those surveyed in the study already stated that they felt the ski area was overcrowded. "This trend could be counteracted with targeted management of visitor flows or restrictions," says Mike Partel.

This is already being done in Switzerland, as Vivienne Hosennen from Switzerland Tourism explained at ISPO Munich. The "Swisstainable" concept aims to better balance visitor flows in future. "We want to become the most sustainable tourism destination in the world. To achieve this, we want to attract guests from all over the world to Switzerland not just in summer and winter, but all year round. We want them to stay with us for longer and not just visit the highlights in 48 hours".

With its Salomon and Atomic brands, Amer is driving forward the issue of sustainability in winter sports. Among other things, Salomon used textile waste from ski boots for the interior design of its new store in Annecy. Atomic organized the first Ski Industry Climate Summit in autumn 2023 with the support of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) and the NGO Protect Our Winters (POW). According to Ronny Schwarzenbrunner, special attention was paid to recycling. "Currently, ski boots can be remade from recycled or partially recycled material for two to three cycles. After that, the performance decreases." Another problem is the variety of materials. "With skis, we try to sort as much as possible so that we can reuse it ourselves. The best case scenario would be a closed loop, meaning that a ski becomes a ski again," the Atomic sustainability manager told Skimagazin. "We can make our products as easy to dismantle as possible, but performance and robustness must not suffer as a result. The quality must remain constant, otherwise the impact of the ski is suddenly higher."

There are already products on the market that are made largely from organic or recycled material - for example, the "Essential" ski from Rossignol, which is 73 percent organic, or the ISPO Award winner 2023 Ferreol Surfeur 112 ski. To maintain performance, Ferreol has replaced synthetic fibers such as fiberglass and carbon with natural flax fibers.

The winter sports equipment manufacturers Atomic, Head, Fischer, Blizzard - Tecnica and Leki joined forces with the ecoplus plastics cluster in Lower Austria at the beginning of 2024 to promote the recycling of ski materials in the WINTRUST (Wintersport Resource Efficiency and improved Circular Economy) cooperation project. The aims of the research project are to establish a corresponding collection system and to analyze and evaluate processing options for used winter sports equipment in order to return as much of the valuable material as possible to the cycle.