Snowless slopes spoil holiday skiing in Switzerland

Record ID: 1705228

  • Title: Snowless slopes spoil holiday skiing in Switzerland
  • Date: 4th January 2023
  • Summary: LEYSIN, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 4, 2023) (REUTERS) (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF PEOPLE SKIING ON A SMALL LAYER OF ARTIFICIAL SNOW PEOPLE SKIING ON A SMALL LAYER OF ARTIFICIAL SNOW (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SKIING ON A SMALL LAYER OF ARTIFICIAL SNOW CHAIR LIFTS STREET OF LEYSIN SKI RESORT VARIOUS OF SIGN READING “8 DEGREES / 10:34 A.M. / 4-1 (JANUARY 4) DIRECTOR OF ‘TELE-LAYSIN’, ARMON CANTIENI, ARRIVING FOR AN INTERVIEW CANTIENI TALKING TO A JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR OF ‘TELE-LAYSIN’, ARMON CANTIENI, SAYING: “We have a decrease in usage of around 35-40 percent if we compare it to last year, which was a very good year. If we compare it to the last 5 years, we have less than 20 percent (of decrease). If we talk in terms of turnover, here it’s a little bit better. If we compare to last year, we have a decrease of around 15 percent, but it’s more or less the same if we compare it to the last 5 years.” LEYSIN SIGN / MAP SHOWING SKI SLOPES OPENED AND CLOSED MAP SHOWING SKI SLOPES OPENED AND CLOSED VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING AND STEPPING INTO CABLE CARS (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR OF ‘TELE-LAYSIN’, ARMON CANTIENI, SAYING: “It’s clear that we are worried, but the situation this year is unusual, I’ve worked for 30 years for cable cars companies, I had two winter starts like this one, otherwise, we always had good conditions to use cable cars. But for sure, we are thinking a lot to reinforcing the three other seasons, especially autumn.” SKI LIFTS PASSING ABOVE GRASS (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE KUKLOS RESTAURANT AT THE TOP OF SKI SLOPE SIGN READING (French, English, German and Italian) “CLOSED” / SKIERS PASSING ON A SLOPE NEAR SIGN VARIOUS OF PARAGLIDER FLYING SNOWMAN ON SKI SLOPE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SKIING (SOUNDBITE) (French) RESIDENT OF VAUD CANTON, SHOPIE RUCHET, SAYING: “It’s heartbreaking to see that because I’m used to come skiing here since I’m a little girl, and to see the ski track like this… They (the ski resort staff) are doing an amazing job, but it’s heartbreaking to see so little snow. But my children are learning to ski, and a thought crossed our mind: is it still worth it to put them on the slope and to make them live those joyful moment now when we don’t know what it will be like in the future.” FLOWER VARIOUS OF LEYSIN STREET SKIERS ARRIVING AT THE END OF THE SKI SLOPE SKIERS WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. CITIZEN WHO LIVES IN VAUD CANTON, ELISSA TAYLOR, SAYING: “I think climate change is really scary, I’m so nervous for the people who make their lives in the winter mountains, you know the livelihoods are very much connected to tourism and if there is no ski, there is probably not as much tourism, there is a lot of interconnected concerns I have. Also, for my skiing.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST FROM BOSTON, U.S., NORAH SWEENEY, SAYING: “And we have no snow on the East coast in the U.S. either right now, so all my friends were excited for me to come ski over here and have a lot of snow, so same problem there.” SKIS ON THE WALL / PEOPLE ON THE TERRACE PEOPLE AT A BAR TABLE ON THE TERRACE ‘BEL AIR’ RESTAURANT / TERRACE WAITERS BRINGING PLATES TO TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FORMER STAFF OF KUKLOS RESTAURANT THAT WAS FIRED LAST WEEK DUE TO LACK OF SNOW, SAYING: “Quite frankly, we don’t know what to expect, so, of course, they say that if it snows we will get our jobs back, but it’s a bit complicated to rely on this, because we have bills and a rent to pay and being a short contract staff is a way to pay for all that, so if we cannot do that, we need to find a solution. I found this extra job because I knew some people here, I’m doing an extra for the ‘Bel Air’ restaurant right now, I’m filling in for someone else, but after January 9, I have no certainty regarding where I will be. So, I’m a bit luckier than others that have no plan at all, but I don’t have much more assurance that I will be able to finish this season here and with a job like it was during past years.” CABLE CARS MOVING (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF CLOSED SKI LIFTS (MUTE) BIKE ON FIELD OWNER OF A SKI RENTAL SHOP ‘ENDLESS RIDE’, JEAN-FRED TISSOT ENTERING THE SHOP WITH A BIKE VARIOUS OF TISSOT WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) OWNER OF A SKI RENTAL SHOP ‘ENDLESS RIDE’, JEAN-FRED TISSOT, SAYING: “For now, as I said, at Christmas it didn’t impact us too much, because people are here anyway. The first week (of holidays) went very well, the second was a bit quieter, because we felt the lack of snow, but people are still here and we work well. I think that the impact will come later, if in January snow doesn’t come, it’s going to be a bit more difficult.” (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE KUKLOS RESTAURANT AT THE TOP OF SKI SLOPE SKI LIFTS (MUTE) PEOPLE SKIING ON A SMALL LAYER OF ARTIFICIAL SNOW PEOPLE SKIING ON A SMALL LAYER OF ARTIFICIAL SNOW
  • Embargoed: 18th January 2023 19:12
  • Keywords: Leysin Switzerland climate change ski resort snow temperature tourist
  • Location: LEYSIN, SWITZERLAND
  • City: LEYSIN, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Environment,Europe,Temperature,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001043604012023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Deprived of their trademark powdery snow by unusually mild weather, Switzerland's world-renowned ski slopes have proven a disappointment to winter sports aficionados and resort managers eager to make the most of the holiday season.
    Recent temperatures climbing as high as a record 20.9 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) have severely disrupted operations at many ski resorts, even forcing some to temporarily close.
    In Leysin, a resort village in the Vaud Alps, only a handful of skiers could be seen on Wednesday (January 4) descending a slope where a narrow pass of artificial snow had been laid to create a semblance of winter.
    "We are seeing a decrease in usage of around 35-40% compared to last year," said Armon Cantieni, director of Tele-Leysin, which operates cable cars and other facilities at Leysin. "It's clear that we are worried."
    Switzerland is warming at about twice the global average rate due in part to the heat-trapping effect of its mountains.
    MeteoSwiss, the country's federal office for meteorology and climatology, said that 2022 was by far the warmest year since records began in 1864 with the average temperature at around 7.4 degrees Celsius.
    Ski resorts across the country and cable car companies also have been struggling, trying to occupy tourists with other forms of leisure.
    Brambruesch, a small resort west of Davos, kept vacationers entertained by opening its alpine bike paths on Christmas day to compensate for a delayed ski season.
    At the upscale Gstaad resort, only 16 of 70 ski trails were open on Wednesday.
    Sophie Ruchet, a resident of the Vaud canton who learned to ski at Leysin, wonders if it's even worth having her children learn to ski.
    "It's heartbreaking to see so little snow," she said. "One thought crossed our minds: is it still worth putting our children on the slopes to make them live those joyful moments now when we don't know what the future will bring?"
    Norah Sweeney, a tourist from Boston, had prepared for a snowy Swiss sojourn, but her hopes quickly melted at the sight of yellowed grass on the slopes.
    "We have no snow on the east coast in the U.S. either right now, so all my friends were excited for me to come ski over here and have a lot of snow," she said. "So, same problem there."
    A former staff who wishes to remain anonymous, from ‘Kuklos’ a restaurant located on top of the only opened ski slope, said he was fired last week due to the lack of snow.
    “After January 9, I have no certainty regarding where I will be. So, I’m a bit luckier than others that have no plan at all, but I don’t have much more assurance that I will be able to finish this season here and with a job like it was during past years,” he said.
    Shop and restaurant owners are hoping for the snow to return soon.
    “I think that the impact will come later, if in January snow doesn’t come, it’s going to be a bit more difficult,” said the owner of a ski rental shop ‘Endless Ride’, Jean-Fred Tissot.
    (Production: Cecile Mantovani, Denis Balibouse)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register