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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘No future’: How the climate crisis is changing Germany’s Alpine ski resorts

Mild winters have forced a Bavarian ski resort to close down. What does the future hold for Alpine skiing?

Published: 18 March 2024 13:20 CET
Archive photo shows skiers on the artificially snow-covered area at the Brauneck ski resort this winter.
Archive photo shows skiers on the artificially snow-covered area at the Brauneck ski resort this winter. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Peter Kneffel

Winter sports fans have seen a disappointing season in much of Europe due to mild weather conditions. 

According to meteorologists, this winter was the warmest since records began in the 19th century, both in Bavaria and in other Alpine regions.

Every month, from June 2023 to February 2024, has broken global air temperature records. According to Copernicus Climate Change Service, February was 1.77C warmer than the average February  temperature from 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period.

READ ALSO: Current winter in Germany 2.7C ‘too warm’

And it’s having real consequences – the Jenner ski resort near Schönau am Königssee has become the first Bavarian Alpine ski area to close down. 

“Alpine skiing no longer has a future on the Jenner,” said the Berchtesgaden Bergbahn railway operator.

The cable car, which was newly built a few years ago, was supposed to take skiers up to the mountain station at 1,800 metres for the last time on March 4th. But even that didn’t work out because it was too warm. February 18th was the last day on the slopes.

It comes after ski lifts in Bavaria were closed in the middle of the Christmas holidays last year due to a lack of snow. 

READ ALSO: The ski destinations you can reach by train in Germany

How is the climate crisis hitting the Alps?

It’s clear that climate change is having an impact on ski resorts in Germany and beyond. 

The Association of German Cable Cars and T-bar Lifts (VDS) said the season started out last year positively with lots of snow, but is ending early in some cases in light of the often double-digit plus temperatures. Many German resorts will not achieve their goal of skiing until Easter.

Yet the VDS is keen to stress that people can still make the most of the Alps. 

Guests can now “enjoy our unique mountain world even without snow”, said VDS board member Antonia Asenstorfer. 

“We will continue to focus on Alpine skiing for decades to come, with additional offers for the whole family.”

The changes are also hitting hard hard financially. Bavaria’s Ministry of Tourism says winter tourism is of “outstanding economic importance for the destinations”. As well as skiing, it includes sledging, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and ski touring. However, all of this also requires snow.

The President of the German Alpine Association (DAV), Roland Stierle, expects – like other experts – that snow won’t be guaranteed at lower altitudes in the long term.

“It looks bad below 1,500 metres,” Stierle said.

A snow cannon at Spitzingsee. Due to exceptionally mild temperatures, several ski resorts are having to restrict operations, as it has also been too warm for artificial snowmaking in recent days.

A snow cannon at Spitzingsee. Due to exceptionally mild temperatures, several ski resorts have had to restrict operations, as it has also been too warm for artificial snowmaking this winter. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Carsten Hoefer

A divided winter season 

On the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain standing at 2,962 metres, things are looking okay for the time being.

There is still almost three metres of snow there and the lifts are scheduled to run until the beginning of May.

The winter season is increasingly divided into two parts: green meadows at lower altitudes and plenty of snow around 2,000 metres above sea level.

In neighbouring Switzerland, there is even more snow than usual this year in some areas, as reported by the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos.

“Above 2,000 metres, snow depths are 100 to 140 percent of the long-term average”, said SLF avalanche expert Lukas Dürr. However, there was little snow at the top in the two previous winters, signalling that the future is unpredictable.

READ ALSO: ’90 percent’ of Europe’s ski resorts face critical snow shortage

Scientists expect ski tourism to shift upwards in future – and warn of the consequences for sensitive high mountain nature. According to a study at the University of Bayreuth, 13 percent of ski resorts worldwide will lose their natural snow cover by the end of the century, assuming a scenario of high greenhouse gas emissions.

Even artificial snowmaking is becoming increasingly difficult, as it has to be around zero degrees. But without artificial snow, many ski slopes already lack adequate snow cover. 

What does the future hold for ski resorts?

It seems that interest in Alpine skiing is already waning in some places. Demand is declining, said Jennerbahn board member Thomas Mühlthaler. By January 24th, just under 700 ski day passes had been sold – too few for a profitable operation.

Tourism researcher Robert Steiger from the University of Innsbruck also sees a change. “There is already a certain trend away from seven-day, full-throttle skiing.”

Despite this, Austria, which has an advantage with its higher mountains, has invested heavily to make skiing possible, with around 35,000 snow cannons producing artificial flakes.

Climate models show that the snow line will rise by another 200 metres by 2050, said Steiger. 

Environmental organisations say the future of skiing has to be rethought – instead of simply trying to produce more fake snow. 

In the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel, for example, a climate change strategy is being prepared, with a focus on winter hiking and other sports that don’t require lots of snow. 

“This winter is a foretaste of what will be the new reality in the future,” warned Richard Mergner, Chairman of the Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria.

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PROPERTY

Why it’s hard to find an apartment with air conditioning in Germany

When temperatures start to get up to 30C or more in Germany, a familiar debate begins. It often starts with a simple question, asked by a new arrival to the country: “Why don’t German homes have air conditioning?”

Published: 25 June 2024 16:58 CEST
Why it's hard to find an apartment with air conditioning in Germany

The tendency to avoid air conditioning (A/C) is not uniquely a German trend. Europeans tend to use A/C less than residents in the US, and some countries in Asia.

But as temperatures have crept slowly upwards due to climate change, and the number of hot days has increased, Europe has seen an increase in demand for air conditioning. Across the continent A/C use has more than doubled since 1990.

But A/C is used much more commonly in countries that see higher temperatures like Spain, Italy or France, whereas it is still uncommon in homes in Germany.

So why does Germany tend to lack air conditioning, and why aren’t more Germans interested in installing it?

It’s not a ‘hot’ country

Ask a German why air conditioning is so rare in the country, and you’ll probably hear some version of “Well Germany is not such a hot country.” Which may be true generally, but is a less than convincing explanation if you hear it on a sunny summer day when it’s 35C outside.

But it is worth keeping in mind that while Germany does have warm summers, often with at least a couple heat waves, super hot days are few compared to warmer countries, like those in southern Europe. 

Given Germany’s weather can really only be described as hot for a few weeks out of each year, and considering the costs of installing and running air conditioning, most Germans figure it’s not worth it.

attic with sliding window

A sliding attic window is designed to help tenants cool off, but it won’t help to open windows during the hottest part of the day. Photo: pa/obs LiDEKO | LiDEKO

This isn’t only reserved for homes, but extends to plenty of public spaces including office and government buildings, and to some public transportation as well. 

In fact, schools and workplaces do occasionally call it quits during hot weather spells in an event called hitzefrei.

READ ALSO: Ditching AC for ‘Hitzefrei’ – Taking on the German summer as a Californian

Air conditioning is energy intensive and expensive

The other side of the argument against air conditioning is that both installation and operating costs can be expensive. Air conditioning tends to be energy inefficient, so using it can significantly increase your utility bill.

From an environmental point of view, all the energy used for air conditioning, if Germany was to start installing A/C at scale, would add to the country’s energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions – both of which Germany is already struggling to cut down year after year as part of its climate goals.

It is an ironic feature of traditional air conditioning that it creates a negative feedback loop: More people rely on air conditioning to stay cool as weather warms, but weather continues warming in part due to emissions from air conditioning.

That said there are cases where access to air conditioning can save lives. In particular elderly people and those with health-risks are prone to heat sensitivity. So while it’s probably good that not every house in Germany has A/C, it’s important that hospitals and some other buildings in a given city do.

READ ALSO: How German cities are adapting to rising temperatures

‘Cold air makes you sick’

Along with the reasonable (if debatable) reasons for the lack of A/C in Germany, there are also cultural factors.

On the social media website Reddit, a user posted the question, “Will more places in Germany start using air conditioning?”

One of the top comments read, “Don’t you know cold air makes you sick….says Oma (the German word for grandma). 

While that comment comes off a bit tongue in cheek, it touches on a real and deeply-ingrained belief that persists among parts of the German population: That exposure to cold, or even maybe a cool breeze, is bad for your health. This includes a draft in your house, called a Durchzug in German.

For this reason, the German Red Cross felt compelled to debunk the Durchzug health myth in a hot weather warning they issued in 2019.

a heat pump is installed

An employee inspects a heat pump in front of a newly built residential building. Heat pumps are also effective for cooling. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd Weißbrod

What can you do about the heat?

Regardless of where you stand on the air conditioning debate, if you don’t have a personal A/C unit at home presently, the best way to endure the hottest days of summer may be to take a few tips from the locals.

During my first summer in Germany, I took to leaving the windows open throughout the day, thinking that the occasional warm breeze was the best relief I could hope for at home. But one day my landlord came by and asked me why I was suffering in the heat with the windows open.

He recommended that I instead leave the windows open at night or in the early morning to get some fresh cool air inside, and then keep all the windows closed through the heat of the day. I tried this strategy the next day, and immediately felt that he was right.

Compared to homes in the US, for instance, German homes tend to be very well insulated. This can be equally important in the summer as it means that the interior tends to stay cooler than the outside (as long as you keep it mostly sealed off).

On extremely hot days, you might even keep your shutters down to shade the windows and prevent the sun from shining through.

Of course the effectiveness of the strategy depends on having a home that’s well insulated, including double paned windows and well-sealed doors etc. If you feel that the inside of your house is getting as warm or warmer than the outside, then it’s probably time to open up the windows or go outside and sit in the shade.

Fans are also useful. Best is a ceiling fan designed to rotate counter-clockwise to push air downward, which can maximise wind chill within a home, but floor fans can also help.

Ironically, in the longer term it may actually be heat pumps that help Germany to modernise its cooling infrastructure. 

Heat pumps maximise the efficiency of heating systems by moving warm air around a building, and they can also work with cooling systems. Many heat pump systems on the market today are already built to support both heating and cooling functions, and they are much more energy efficient than classic air condition systems.

READ ALSO: Who can apply for Germany’s new heat pump grants for homes?

Unfortunately for tenants with no heat pump and no A/C, the best you can do for now is take notes of cool places in your city where you can relax in the shade or in the water during the hottest hours or the hottest days.

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