The Facts Are Tough To Face, But The Ski Season In New England Is Getting Shorter.
Credit: Mike Maginn
This story comes via the New England News Collaborative, and was first published by Maine Public. It aired on WBUR Boston, March 15, 2017.
Two years ago during the infamous 2014-15 season, there was enough snow, it seemed, in New England to cover Mt. Washington many times over. The 2015-16 season was the opposite; we were lucky to get a string of decent days and many resorts closed early. This season, it was on-again, off-again, with an on-again storm at the beginning of March that will definitely extend the season.
This up-down trend is part of a bigger picture that is reported here in a WBUR Boston NPR Radio segment that we are passing along. Although the tone is frank and a bit foreboding, the entrepreneurial spirit of mountain business people is encouraging, especially when they talk about plans for the dealing with what’s coming.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT OR TO READ THE TRANSCIPT. It’s about five and a half minutes long, or you can read a transcript in the link.
What do you think? Will summer activities on mountains run by ski resorts be viable business alternative and money maker?
While Climate change may be a concern, we don’t have what instructors would call the D.I.R.T. on it. We don’t know the Duration, Intensity, Rate, or Timing of change. The fact remains that no previous predictions of the effects of climate change have proved accurate. The type of intelligence required to develop sound business strategy simply doesn’t exist.
My concern is that too many assets and resources may be consumed to counter a climate threat that can’t be defined while the industry faces more immediate and more certain threats to demographic and political trends