Summer glacier skiing: A systemic approach to climate change adaptation in Switzerland

• Main Authors: Salim, Emmanuel, Fournier, Jeanne, Gerber, Abraham Ephraim, Fragnière, Emmanuel
• Other Authors: Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne (UNIL), Centre d'Etude et de Recherche Travail Organisation Pouvoir (CERTOP), Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut supérieur du tourisme, de l'hôtellerie et de l'alimentation (Toulouse) (ISTHIA), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT), Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale Valais-Wallis (HES-SO Valais-Wallis), Canton du Valais, CCTR
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2024
• Subjects: Summer glacier ski; climate change; adaptation; tourism; vulnerability; Mountain; [SHS.GEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography; glacier*
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04560734

International audience In Switzerland, high mountain areas are highly developed for tourism. Mountain tourism is mainly based on outdoor activities such as hiking, mountaineering, or skiing. These activities depend on the environment, and climate change is nowadays changing the basis for them. For example, the reduction of snow availability during the winter season is a challenge for ski tourism, while glacier retreat challenges the future of glacier tourism and alpinism during the summer season. The former challenges raise the issue of destination adaptation to climate risks, especially if the destination relies on vulnerable activities. In this context, summer glacier ski - broadly defined as skiing on glaciers from May to the end of October - appears to be particularly vulnerable to both glacier retreat and reductions in summer snowfall at high altitudes. While some research has been done on this particular activity in Austria, little light has been shed on the two last remaining summer glacier ski resorts in Switzerland: Saas-Fee and Zermatt.Accordingly, the aim of this presentation is to share the first results of a research project that aims to better understand adaptations to climate change impacts on summer glacier skiing in Saas-Fee and Zermatt. As glacier summer ski resorts involve multiple stakeholders interacting in complex ways with each other and their environment, the project aims to develop a systemic framework for adaptation. For this reason, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourism stakeholders of the two destinations (n=10) and with skiers and managers of sports teams (n=14), who appear to be the main customers of the activity.Preliminary results show that climate change raises issues on both the demand and supply sides. The impact of climate change on snow and glacier conditions leads to an increase in operating costs, the risk of closure during the summer, leading to an increase in uncertainty about the ability to operate. This affects the demand side, in particular ...