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Are You Warming Up To Global Warming?

By Craig Altschul
October 02, 2006

Here's an important question for you. Actually, we want to know if it's an important question for you. Everyone and their scientist - from "Almost President" Al Gore to British gazillionaire tycoon Richard Branson, to our own industry's Pat O'Donnell of Aspen - is taking up the cause.

The question is: Are you? Are your skiers and riders? We'd like to know.

In case you have been tied up with the football season or getting ready for the season, we'll refresh you on a few bits of news that will warm your heart. Or perhaps, eventually, your ski slope.

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former Vice President and presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming. In his film, An Inconvenient Truth, he calls for immediate action to curb global warming's destructive effects on the environment.

Branson is so concerned about the subject that he announced in late September that he plans to donate about 2.4 million British pounds (cheerio, that's $4.3 billion) to fight climate change. He said he will divert all profits from his company's air and train businesses over the next decade toward finding alternative energy methods to coal and oil. He told Bill Clinton's recent Global Initiative Summit "we must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment."

Now, we who play in the snow are involved. The always edgy Aspen Ski Company took the blinders off an ad "campaign" (it is actually three ads each in SKI and Outside magazines) that essentially tells us all that snow will go away about the year 2100 if drastic action is not taken to slow the effects of global warming. The implication, a pretty good one, is that skiers and riders will go away along with the snow.

The three clever ads include a "certificate of death" for snow; another calling snow an endangered species, and a third showing our future without anything to ski or snowboard on. There's a melting snowflake on Aspen Highlands included to make the point.

Some - including The Aspen Times - called it a "gamble." It's probably not much of a gamble because, first, it's just a part of Aspen's total advertising package. Second, O'Donnell, Aspen President and CEO, is telling reporters that the company's recent surveys show 30 percent of its visitors ranked environmental sustainability as an important factor in choosing a resort. He said that number has risen 10 percent from a similar survey five years ago.

There are those who would say - and are saying - that slowing global warming is an ideal ski industry position. After all, we depend on snow and cold weather to offer our product to consumers.

But, there's the other side of the coin. The snow goes away - says Aspen - 94 years from now. I'm going to be an awfully old geezer to hop onto a chairlift at about 159 years old. Sure, the kids. The kids. Their kids. Their kids' kids.

How much do we care? That's our question. Is slowing the effects of global warming that moves at a glacial-melting pace top-of-your customer's minds? Will you make it top-of- mind? Is it a real concern you are going embrace along with Aspen? Or, is it just grandstanding (and, no, we are not implying that it is or isn't)? Tell us in our blog below now, before your thoughts melt away.

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The gradual warming of the last 3 decades (.2C/decade) will soon give way to abrupt climate change and runaway global warming. Leading scientists are now predicting that soon the earth's thermostat will reset 10C higher. Even though GCMs (global climate models) are bias toward gradual linear change, ice cores taken from Greenland tell a different story. When the earth's climate is being forced, it responds by suddenly jumping from one stable state to another. Predictably, the mild climate of the Holocene will suddenly become a hotter dryer climate that has been responsible for massive extinctions in the past. It is likely that there will be less than 1 billion people alive by the end of the century.

Posted by: Brad Arnold none | October 2, 2006 02:22 AM

NATURAL SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING In the year 1905, Nobel physicist, Albert Einstein, published his E=mc? EQUATION, which opened the door to THE WORLD OF THE PROTON GENIE, the door to all of the abundant energy that Earth will ever need. But, nobody looked or listened except the Energy Cartel, which stood to loose its enormous wealth and power if Einstein's EQUATION should ever become implemented. Many have attempted to implement Einstein's EQUATION, but even the most promising successful efforts are routinely thwarted. In brief review, ?E=mc?? provides the basis for extracting and fusing PROTONS from ordinary, pure water, which will ultimately make everybody on Earth so idly rich and content from the benefits of this clean, virtually-free, and inexhaustible energy supply that nobody should ever again have to worry about pollution, war, or poverty, and Mother Nature will once again regain total control of any Climate Changes. The Atomic Doomsday Clock reads, "7 minutes until Doomsday, and counting!" Is it too late? Or, will some ordinary, individual Tinkerer (maybe just an average high school student) rise to the occasion, connect the dots, and construct a simple physical demonstration of Einstein?s EQUATION so that the entire World Population can become enlightened to the prospect of a new future of peace, contentment, and prosperity? Anything less will fail to uncork the PROTON GENIE for the benefit of mankind because "The Special Energy Interests" have sufficient resources to block any individual efforts to provide Cheap Power. Please encourage your correspondents to link to this blog, and help spread Einstein's great-inspired VISION, "A Free-Energy Paradise On Earth."

Posted by: robertmacevain | October 2, 2006 07:01 AM

	We have only been keeping weather records for a little over a century. Since the earth is billions of years old do we really know what the story is? There is also a school of thought that says that CO2 emissions can actually cool the earth.
	Posted by: | October 2, 2006 09:30 AM

	I fully support any and all efforts to reduce global warming. However, if or when all snow is gone, skiing will be the least of our worries.
	Posted by: Ted Farwell Winterstar Valuations, Inc. | October 2, 2006 09:31 AM

Even in the dead of winter, long stretches of subzero temperatures are pretty rare in London. It may come as a surprise, therefore, to learn that the capital of Britain lies nearly 400 miles farther north than Montreal--or that Paris is farther from the equator than Fargo, N.D. The relatively balmy climate of much of Western Europe suggests that many countries in that region should lie well south of where they actually are, and that's all thanks to the Gulf Stream, a gigantic river of tropical water that flows up and across the Atlantic, warming the waters that lap figuratively against Europe's western shores. Turn it off, and the region's temperatures could plunge disastrously.

Posted by: | October 2, 2006 09:38 AM

Businesses are like animal species... 99.9% of all of them are extinct. In the animal kindom their are things called "indicator species". They are ultra sensitive animals that die first when there is a problem in the environment. Ski resorts are the indicator species of the business world. When glacier skiing is halted in Europe, and average snowfall amounts drop across the country... ski resorts are indicating climate change. Soon our businesses will be extinct.

Posted by: Brad Larsen | October 2, 2006 10:32 AM

	I did a story on this in Ski Area Management back in March. Global warming is real, and will be locally disastrous. Over the next decade or two, high-elevation resorts have little to worry about -- they may actually get more snow as storms intensify. But low-elevation resorts will be rained out and are doomed. We need to get organized on behalf of carbon-free energy sources for all purposes. Seth
	Posted by: Seth Masia University of Colorado | October 2, 2006 11:48 AM

Save the Snow! We at FERA have tremendous respect for the environment, which provides us with a natural winter playground every season. As a winter sports business, FERA has a voice that reaches thousands of people whose enjoyment of skiing and boarding is often beyond words. We are deeply concerned about the threat posed to winter sports ? and indeed all outdoor activities - by the acceleration of global warming. So we are using our voice to urge people to be aware of the issues facing our natural environment. For these reasons, we support the National Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org) and its efforts to help Keep Winter Cool? (www.keepwintercool.org ). The snow is great, and we want to keep it that way. The trouble is, things are heating up out there. That could mean shorter seasons and less snowfall. The reason is global warming, caused by heat-trapping pollution. We can fix the problem, as long as we start soon. That?s why the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Ski Areas Association have teamed up to Keep Winter Cool. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 1 million members and e-activists nationwide. Who we just teamed up with!! Fera Corp. is also teaming up with Boarding House Mentors, who bring exhilaration of snowboarding/skiing/surfing to inner city kids. Fera is going to donate 2% of their online sales to the organization. Please help us inform our community about our efforts in creating a greater awareness of Global Warming and hopefully voice our concern together!

Posted by: Sharol Park | October 2, 2006 02:54 PM

	Very interesting..check out my site Would like to develop a relationship with mountainnews if possible. Jim Roemer
	Posted by: Jim Roemer bestskweather.com | October 2, 2006 06:46 PM

	In Colorado last season thousands of people used SkiCarpool which prevented 180,000 lbs of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. Each season SkiCarpool grows, as does it's impact. Skiers and riders want to do there part to help fight global warming and the end to their snow days.
	Posted by: Glenn Lieberman | October 2, 2006 07:14 PM

Absolutely concerned! I started up AtmosClear to help skiers and others to offset their emissions that contribute to global warming. We all need to get to ski areas, and often drive large vehicles that can handle the weather and road conditions as well as our kids and gear... But, we're burning fossil fuels to get there... and we're consequently adding CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. I've been a skier for almost 40 years, and I want my kids to ski big mountains like I've enjoyed (that's with snow on them!). I think we need to take responsibilty for our emissions however we can... by reducing our consumption of fossil fuels and offsetting those emissions that we do contribute through driving and other lifestyle activities. UndoYourCO2!!!

Posted by: Sid Embree | October 4, 2006 07:02 AM

	TO THE A** WHO WROTE: "We have only been keeping weather records for a little over a century. Since the earth is billions of years old do we really know what the story is? There is also a school of thought that says that CO2 emissions can actually cool the earth" WELL, DO YOUR REALLY WANT TO TAKE A CHANCE? MAYBE YOU DON'T HAVE KIDS, BUT SOME OF US DO.
	Posted by: Thomas Renda | October 10, 2006 04:15 PM

	Sorry, no theory links our rising CO2 levels with falling temperatures. Physics tells us just the opposite. We know about past climates through paleoclimatology - using ice cores, pollens, tree rings and other proxies for temperature. This link explains some of the methods: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/primer.html
	Posted by: john althauser | November 16, 2006 07:25 AM

What we really need is more of the massive indoor ski areas like they build in desert countries like Dubai. Those things are awesome and you can ski year-round. The extremely small ski industry worring about global warming is pointless. Even with global warming, the best ski areas will still have snow at high elevations forever. Its just the already marginal ski areas that will be gone. As long as we have uncontrolled global population expansion, I don't see how we will ever stop CO2 increase based global warming. My company is one of the largest nuclear energy construction & maintenance firms in the world. I can tell you that more extensive nuclear power use is coming (to reduce coal fired plants), but a long, long, way off.

Posted by: Jeff Kellam | December 8, 2006 06:41 AM

It is heartening to read so many comments that acknowledge the existence of global warming and the role that humans are playing because this is a neccesary for any hope of change. For those few who remain skeptical, questioning whether there is a problem, whether humans play a role in the problem (e.g., contrary to a note above, there is a theory and data linking CO2 to global warming.), I recommend reading the report on the scientific evidence about global warming put out by the World Meterological association and the United Nations. Their online publications can be found at: www.ipcc.ch

Posted by: Janet Swim Penn State University | January 9, 2007 04:23 PM

	this page doesnt give information i need.. its all bout 1 scientest u guys despise come on enought fighting the world is at stake !!!!
	Posted by: BERNI CANTLEBERRY | May 21, 2007 07:17 AM