No Snow on slopes

European ski resorts suffer low temperatures

Travel Insurance News - 11/12/2006

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Record warm temperatures have spelt disaster for Europe's ski resorts. Resort managers in Switzerland and Austria have said that the warm weather has delayed the start of the ski season by at least two weeks from the first weekend in December. France's leading resort Val d'Isere, was forced to cancel its World Cup men's downhill and super-G events for only the fifth time in 51 years. Chamonix has also suffered and only the glacier at Tignes and Savoie are open. Val Thorens had only six out of a possible 68 pistes open last weekend.

In Switzerland and Austria, temperatures where expected to rise to 20C when the normal average temperature for the regions at this time is around -4C and 2C. Many are predicting that the pistes will remain closed until after Christmas and into the new year. Snow making machines are unable to come to the aid of the resorts as they need near freezing conditions to to work. The machines blast water into the air as a fine mist and should freeze into ice crystals as it settles to the ground. A climate expert from Austria predicted that there will no longer be snow on regions below 2,000 meters due to climate change.

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