Resources

Skiing and Climate Change around the World:

Gorman-Murray, Andrew. “An Australian Feeling for Snow towards Understanding Cultural and Emotional Dimensions of Climate Change.” Faculty of Science – Papers (Archive), January 1, 2010, 60–81.

  • This paper explores the emotional and cultural connections to snow in Australia, with a focus on Tasmania. It highlights the loss of cross-country skiing there as a significant cultural loss and also emphasizes the “human dimensions” of climate change.

Landauer, Mia, Wolfgang Haider, and Ulrike Pröbstl-Haider. “The Influence of Culture on Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: Preferences of Cross-Country Skiers in Austria and Finland.” Journal of Travel Research 53, no. 1 (January 1, 2014): 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287513481276.

  • This paper examines the cultural differences between Austria and Finland and how those impact Austrians’ and Finns’ relationships to skiing and their opinions of various adaptive strategies. It highlights the complicated relationship skiers’ can have with snowmaking and its supposed artificiality and ends up highlighting the need for culturally tailored, geographically specific solutions.

Norgaard, Kari Marie. Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions, and Everyday Life. The MIT Press, 2011. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262015448.001.0001.

  • This book follows an American sociologist living in Norway attempting to understand how a town whose culture is rooted in skiing and winter is dealing with the threat of climate change.

Söderström, Erik. “Climate Change Sensitivity and Adaptation of Cross-Country Skiing in Northern Europe.” University of Copenhagen, 2016.

  • This is an extensive thesis outlining potential adaptation strategies for cross-country ski areas in Europe. It contains survey data from dozens of ski areas and various areas are addressing similar problems. This is helpful for considering what the future of skiing could look in a warming winter.

Watt-Cloutier, Sheila. “The Right to Be Cold.” In The Right to Be Cold, 218–59. One Woman’s Fight to Protect the Arctic and Save the Planet from Climate Change. University of Minnesota Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctt2204r9f.11.

  • Watt-Cloutier has been fighting to get the loss of winter due to climate change recognized as a human rights violation for almost two decades and this book details her journey. It highlights the loss of winter as a prominent issue within climate change and this is vital to understanding the relationship between skiing and climate change.

Skiing and Climate Change in the Northeast/USA:

Cornwall, Warren. “Creating Winter for Cross-Country Skiers.” The New York Times, December 6, 2012, sec. Travel. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/travel/creating-winter-for-cross-country-skiers.html.

  • This is a newspaper article advertising the various cross-country ski areas with snowmaking around New England and documents some skiers’ reactions to skiing on manmade snow and the threat of poor winters ahead. It gives some more context for understanding the public opinion of the state of cross-country skiing in the Northeast in a warming world and how snowmaking fits into that.

Fox, Porter. “Opinion | Why Can’t Rich People Save Winter?” The New York Times, February 2, 2019, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/opinion/sunday/winter-snow-ski-climate.html.

  • This newspaper article highlights the irony that most people who ski (alpine more so than Nordic) both have the motivation and the resources to address climate change in one way or another, yet real action is relatively rare.

Hamilton, Lawrence C., Cliff Brown, and Barry D. Keim. “Ski Areas, Weather and Climate: Time Series Models for New England Case Studies.” International Journal of Climatology 27, no. 15 (2007): 2113–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1502.

  • This is an environmental sociology paper about the future of New England ski areas and the reasons why people do or do not go skiing in relationship to snow conditions. It concludes that snowmaking may not be enough to save skiing in the Northeast since people are far less likely to go skiing if there’s no snow on the ground at their home.

“How Climate Change Will Impact The Snowsports Industry.” POW, February 7, 2019. https://protectourwinters.org/how-climate-change-will-impact-the-snowsports-industry/.

  • Protect Our Winters (POW) is the major player in the US for organizing skiers to address climate change in any way they can (through getting into politics, carpooling, etc). This page lays out the economic benefits skiing brings that are threatened by climate change and helps to give context to how skiers are confronting climate change across the US. 

Mangan, Audrey. “The End of Winter? An Interview with Bill McKibben.” FasterSkier.com, December 19, 2011. https://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/the-end-of-winter-an-interview-with-bill-mckibben/.

  • This is an interview published on FasterSkier.com with Bill McKibben, famed environmental thinker/activist and also lover of cross-country skiing.

Rohall, David E., Lawrence C. Hamilton, Benjamin C. Brown, Barry D. Keim, and Gregg F. Hayward. “Warming Winters and New Hampshire’s Lost Ski Areas: An Integrated Case Study.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 23, no. 10 (October 1, 2003): 52–73. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330310790309.

  • Though this paper primarily focuses on downhill ski areas in New Hampshire, it nonetheless gives some more background information on what has been studied in the intersection of climate change and skiing. Interestingly, they found the number one predictor of whether people go skiing or not is weather and that climate change has created a small number of winners and many losers for ski areas in New Engalnd.

Wobus, Cameron, Eric E. Small, Heather Hosterman, David Mills, Justin Stein, Matthew Rissing, Russell Jones, et al. “Projected Climate Change Impacts on Skiing and Snowmobiling: A Case Study of the United States.” Global Environmental Change 45 (July 1, 2017): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.04.006.

  • This paper uses various emissions scenarios to model the fate of ski areas across the US over the next 50-100 years. It depressingly concludes that all ski areas in the Northeast and the Midwest could disappear by 2090.

Description of Prospect (Place and Community):

“About Prospect.” Prospect, 2019. https://prospectmountain.com/about/.

  • This is a page from Prospect’s official website, giving a brief overview about the ski area. It helps to provide more background on the history of the place and its current state.

“Prospect Mountain.” New England Lost Ski Area Project. Accessed April 11, 2019. http://www.nelsap.org/vt/prospect.html.

  • This is a page detailing Prospect’s history since its inception in the 1930s through the end of its downhill days in the 90s, featured on a website dedicated to the “Lost Ski Areas of New England.” Not only is understanding the history of Prospect relevant, but so is understanding this nostalgia for ski areas of the past which may be the way that many ski areas in the area are headed.

Changes at Prospect and Adapting to Climate Change at Prospect:

“Big News.” Prospect, 2019. https://prospectmountain.com/big-news/.

  • This is another page from Prospect’s official website describing the transition from Steve Whitham’s ownership to the Prospect Mountain Association. This switch to being owned by a non-profit is a vital part of understanding what Prospect’s future will look like and its importance to the community. 

Ray, Sarah C. “Rikert Nordic Center Now Has Snowmaking.” Middlebury, February 7, 2013. http://www.middlebury.edu/newsroom/node/447104.

  • This is a news release from Middlebury College’s website describing the snowmaking system installed at their ski area, Rikert, in 2013. In asking people about what they think of snowmaking at Prospect, many referenced Rikert as a possible model for what Prospect could do and be.

Ways to Get Involved/Future of Prospect:

Groulx, Mark, Marie Claire Brisbois, Christopher J. Lemieux, Amanda Winegardner, and LeeAnn Fishback. “A Role for Nature-Based Citizen Science in Promoting Individual and Collective Climate Change Action? A Systematic Review of Learning Outcomes.” Science Communication 39, no. 1 (February 1, 2017): 45–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547016688324.

  • This is a peer-reviewed article examining how citizens can become active in the climate change movement and the effectiveness of promoting citizen science.

Vordenberg, Pete. “Op-Ed from Pete Vordenberg on Getting Involved.” FasterSkier.com, March 29, 2019. https://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/op-ed-from-pete-vordenberg-on-getting-involved/.

  • This is a recent op-ed from FasterSkier.com advertising various ways skiers can “get involved” in the fight against climate change (mostly in the form of political action). It is not only helpful in providing strategies for increasing involvement but also shows that this is a topic cross-country skiers are thinking about.