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Kitzbühel Defies Predictions And Extends Season

Tue, 30 Aug 2016 11:56:07 GMT

(image credit: Valerii Tkachenko)

Kitzbuhel has published data showing that its ski seasons have got progressively longer, on average, over the past two decades.

The famous resort in the Austrian Tirol opened for an average 1409 days back in the early 1990s but has been opening up to 155 days for snowsports in recent seasons - stretching the snow cover period by more than two weeks.

The longest season over the 24 year period the graph covers was 182 days in 2012-2013 - half the year.

Kitzbuhel has endeavoured to open for skiing in autumn weekends earlier and earlier over the past decades and this coming winter says it plans to open on October 22nd, all being well, then stay open through to May 1st 2017 more than six months later.

Interestingly the shortest winter in the 24 year analysis was winter 2005-6 when the ski slopes were only open for 129 days, just over four months.

Coincidentally this was the same season that the OECD published a major report on climate change in the Alps and said snowsports at resorts like Kitzbuhel could be under threat later this century due to its comparatively low altitude ski area from 800-2000m.

Ever since then Kitzbuhel has used snowmaking know how at an altitude location likely to hold the snow to endeavour to open earlier and earlier each Autumn.

Re:Kitzbühel Defies Predictions And Extends Season

Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:43:14 GMT

Snow making is about the least environmentally friendly activity a ski resort can do. Most traditional resorts should not have full vertical throughout the season. People particularly Brits (something about their psych) need to learn to bin down vs. all that energy and water pollution. Only to keep a token run open that is inevitably overcrowded and people moan is slushy and moguled when they reach the bottom.

Re:Kitzbühel Defies Predictions And Extends Season

Thu, 1 Sep 2016 12:17:54 GMT

For once I will agree with Ranchero_1979 :). When staying at Club Med at LDA I would rather bin down than take the crowded green run of Doooooooom or the steep black Valentin (I know that there is now a blue and red at the other "end" of the resort).