Higher electricity and fuel prices pose another challenge for global winter resorts already reeling from the impacts of climate change.
(Bloomberg) — For a quarter century, the Hachi Kogen Ski Area in central Japan relied on artificial snow machines to prepare its slopes for the annual season. Not this winter.
The property is among hundreds of ski resorts getting squeezed by surging energy prices, which are forcing some businesses to curb operations. Since powering the energy-intensive snow cannons would have cost Hachi Kogen about 40 million yen ($310,000) —double the price last winter — the resort opted to wait for natural snowfall and opened a few weeks later than normal.
For a global industry already reeling from the impacts of rising global temperatures, higher energy prices are posing another challenge for resorts from Asia to Europe. While Japan has so-far escaped a significant falloff in snow and freshly opened borders are luring thousands of foreigners to destinations like Niseko and Hakuba, rising costs mean many of the country’s smaller resorts are walking an economic tightrope.
“We raised lift ticket prices by 200 yen per adult but we can’t suddenly increase it by 1,000 or 2,000 yen,” said Shigehiko Yoshida, manager of the Ani Ski resort in the northern prefecture of Akita. “We can’t cover all the fuel and power bill cost increases so it’s difficult.’’
While typically located in pristine nature, ski resorts often use vast amounts of electricity to run chairlifts and fuel for the giant snowcats that groom slopes. In Japan, where power prices have jumped about 20% from a year ago, higher energy costs are “greatly impacting ski operators’’ according to an official with Japan Funicular Transport Association.
In Europe, winter resorts are also making operational changes in an attempt to offset costs triggered by higher energy prices. The French resort of Val Thorens now automatically shuts off ski-lift heating when doors are open and lifts in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, are running more slowly to save energy. More than 20 of the continent’s leading winter destinations have raised prices by at least 10%.
Cheap, locally produced clean power is also offering some resorts a way to reduce their climate impact and limit exposure to electricity markets.
Vail Resorts Inc., which operates dozens of ski destinations globally, has achieved 100% renewable power across its North American resorts.
For Japan, imported coal, oil and liquefied natural gas still account for the majority of the country’s energy needs and rising costs are being exacerbated by a weaker currency.
Japan’s inflation hit 4% for the first time in more than four decades last month from a year ago, driven by gains in energy and food costs. Electricity and gas prices both continued to jump more than 20% from the year before, and the yen has weakened about 12% versus the US dollar over the past year.
That’s squeezing many of the nation’s smaller ski resorts particularly hard.
“Ski parks in western part of Japan use a lot of snow machines, and our seasons are shorter,” said Kazuki Fukuoka, a manager of the Kotobiki Forest Park Ski Park in the country’s western Shimane prefecture. “We decided to raise lift ticket prices and rental gear prices. Those are measures that every ski resort is probably considering.’’
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