Snow shortage threatens Alps with wet winter season

They have been holding their breath in the Swiss resort of Adelboden, as New Year temperatures in Switzerland hit a record 20C - the highest ever north of the Alps in January.

Many wondered if next weekend's ski World Cup would go ahead, as the usual snowy slopes were mud and grass.

Even at 2,000m (6,500ft), the temperature was above freezing.

In the end, the famous Chuenisbärgli piste has been approved for use for the big slalom events.

It took the help of an army of snow cannon, as well as a slight drop in temperature at the top of the run. But when the world's top men's skiers hurtle across the finish line, they will be on artificial snow.

Across the Alps, the unseasonably warm wet weather has put a real damper on the start of the ski season.

The word for it here is Schneemangel or snow shortage. There's a phrase for when the snow is plentiful too - das weisse Gold - white gold. It's a reflection of how many alpine communities depend on winter sports for their livelihoods.

This January, they are having to rethink.

In Austria, the resorts around Salzburg last had snow a month ago. In Chamonix in France, the snow cannon are idle because the water to fuel them is in short supply.

In Switzerland, some resorts have even opened their summer biking trails rather than try to offer winter sports. Others have simply shut down their ski lifts indefinitely.

Climate experts suggest we should not be surprised by this January weather. Global warming, they have long warned, will cause warmer, wetter winters. But as with the shrinking of the Alpine glaciers, the rate at which ski resorts become unviable seems to be accelerating.

Just a few years ago, Swiss resorts were warned that skiing below 1,000m was, over time, likely to become impossible as global temperatures rose. But this week, the resort of Splügen, at 1,500m considered "snow safe", shut down until further notice.

Hacher Bernet, the director of Splügen's ski lifts, graphically showed Swiss journalists why he had taken such a difficult decision.

Picking up a lump of snow from the slope, he held it out: not fluffy white powder, but a lump of dripping slush.

"It's really too wet, like in spring. For skiing, the snow needs to hold together - there's just too much water in this, it's impossible."

Across the Alps, anxiety is mounting. After two years of reduced income because of the pandemic, winter resorts have been banking on a return to normal.

In February and March, schools in Europe break up for the winter "ski week". Tens of thousands of families will head to the mountains expecting to ski. Snow needs to come, soon.

But for now, the weather forecast remains warm and wet.