Articles | Volume 16, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-863-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-863-2022
Research article
 | 
11 Mar 2022
Research article |  | 11 Mar 2022

Past changes in natural and managed snow reliability of French Alps ski resorts from 1961 to 2019

Lucas Berard-Chenu, Hugues François, Emmanuelle George, and Samuel Morin

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Cited articles

Abegg, B., Agrawala, S., Crick, F., and de Montfalcon, A.: Climate change impacts and adaptation in winter tourism, in: Climate Change in the European Alps, edited by: Agrawala, S., OECD Paris, 25–60, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264031692-en, 2007. 
Abegg, B., Steiger, R., and Trawöger, L.: Resilience and perceptions of problems in Alpine regions, in: Tourism and resilience, edited by: Butler, R. W., CABI Publications, Wallingford, 105–117, https://doi.org/10.1079/9781780648330.0105, 2017. 
Abegg, B., Morin, S., Demiroglu, O. C., François, H., Rothleitner, M., and Strasser, U.: Overloaded! Critical revision and a new conceptual approach for snow indicators in ski tourism, Int. J. Biometeorol., 65, 691–701, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01867-3, 2021.​​​​​​​ 
Badré, M., Prime, J. L., and Ribière, G.: “Neige de culture: Etat des lieux et impacts environnementaux”. Note socio-économique, République Française, Ministère de l'Ecologie, de l'Energie, du Développement durable et de l'Aménagement du territoire, https://www.vie-publique.fr/sites/default/files/rapport/pdf/094000448.pdf (last access: 15 January 2022​​​​​​​), 2009. 
Beaudin, L. and Huang, J. C.: Weather conditions and outdoor recreation: A study of New England ski areas, Ecol. Econ., 106, 56–68, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.07.011, 2014. 
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Short summary
This study investigates the past snow reliability (1961–2019) of 16 ski resorts in the French Alps using state-of-the-art snowpack modelling. We used snowmaking investment figures to infer the evolution of snowmaking coverage at the individual ski resort level. Snowmaking improved snow reliability for the core of the winter season for the highest-elevation ski resorts. However it did not counterbalance the decreasing trend in snow cover reliability for lower-elevation ski resorts and in spring.
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