The snow continues to spread its white coat in Quebec and skiers have a fun black. But when ski resorts think about their future, they worry.
A few weeks ago, photos of many European ski resorts lacking snow went around the world. With climate change, their survival is threatened. It is obvious.
Quebec ski resorts are not as vulnerable. But their owners have just sounded the alarm. And they are asking for help from Quebec.
Here too, the temperatures are warming up. Snow will be rarer and rain more frequent.
Moreover, the most recent holiday season has left a sour taste for ski resort operators. The snow was not there as much as they would have liked.
“I can tell you that the chalets were full, but it was the bowling alleys and the cinemas that were busy. Not us”, explained the CEO of the Association of Quebec Ski Resorts, Yves Juneau.
Ouranos, the Quebec consortium on regional climatology and adaptation to climate change, published a report on the alpine ski sector four years ago.
It explained that the new climate reality represents the “greatest challenge” in the history of the ski industry.
According to the predictions of this organization, we will still be skiing in 2050 in Quebec. But if resorts don’t find ways to adapt to the changes, “the opening, the length of the season and the percentage of the ski area open will be affected”.
In this report, Ouranos shines more of its spotlight on ski resorts in the Eastern Townships. In their case, the start of the season will be delayed by 7 to 10 days in 2050 (compared to 2020). And there will be 10 to 20 fewer days of skiing over the full season.
But don’t think other regions are immune. All stations will be affected in one way or another by climate change.
A study prepared for the Association des stations de ski du Québec last December indicates that the average number of days below the freezing point will have dropped everywhere in Quebec by 2050. It is in Gaspésie (21 days less than in current time) and in Bas-Saint-Laurent (20 days less) that the loss will be most pronounced.
The solution ? The one favored above all by ski resorts at the present time is the purchase of more efficient snow cannons. They could then produce snow at a higher temperature than with equipment that, in some cases, dates from the 1980s. Substantial electricity savings are also expected.
This is why the 31 private ski resorts in the province want to obtain $65 million from Quebec.
The Ministry of Economy and that of Tourism are currently evaluating the request.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Snow cannons in action on Mont Saint-Bruno in 2018
This SOS is certainly more legitimate than the one launched by the manager of Mont-Sainte-Anne, Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. The latter is asking Quebec for 50 million to update the station’s infrastructure, which he has neglected for years, as we have already deplored.1.
The fact remains that Minister Fitzgibbon, who spoke on the issue on Friday, is right to refuse to offer tens of millions to private ski resorts “without risk sharing”. They must also invest to adapt to climate change.
He is also right to say that it is important to examine what these investments will be able to bring in in terms of benefits for each of the stations.
What should not be forgotten, either, is that acquiring new, more efficient snow cannons also means practicing headlong rush.
The most fundamental thing is to limit the rise in global temperature fairly quickly.
In Quebec, as elsewhere in the country, we have never had the courage of our ambitions in the fight against climate change.
The gradual disappearance of our white gold is a call to order.
A reminder “that we do not negotiate with the environment”, as researcher Hugo Séguin pointed out in his relevant essay Letter to impatient greens and those who find they are exaggerating.