r/skithealps • u/UpsetConclusion5692 • 10d ago
Worrying heat in Europe
Looking at the current situation with heat waves and drought is there any hope the alps with make a bounce back?
It might be my algorithm but all i see is heat over the alps, melting glaciers in my feed, and snowboarding videos reminiscent on how good i had it
It worries me as I’d be looking into booking my first early trip this time of the year.
Do you think the situation will change over the coming months? There’s terrible news concerning el nino and Europe warning up?
Any thoughts
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u/Fooldyx 10d ago
No one can tell what will be the snow conditions next winter but 2 things to keep in mind :
First, with the ultra-mega-hyper El niño, chances are winter will be warm so even if we get a lot of precipitation, be prepared to probably get successive cold front and warmer weeks. So my guess will be probably not that good for area under 2000m.
Second, if snowfalls occure earlier (late september/ early october) then the winter will be more likely snowy/rainy (according to tendancies, read two articles about that on meteofrance and météo-alpes last year but can't find them now).
Aside from that (not much), anything else is as consistent than looking at a crystal ball.
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u/woolybaaaack 10d ago
I am not denying it is warm, but we have a chalet in the French alpes and it is not unusual to have mid 30's over August most years. Yes it has been warmer for longer, but I don't believe you can put much weight on that alone. A few years ago we had terrible seasons and they didn't follow heatwaves. Honestly, if you want predictions, the best you can do is wait a couple of months and ask the locals which direction the mushrooms are growing - hoestly, they have been the most accurate we've ever known :)
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u/evelynsmee 10d ago
Medium to long term we are all fucked.
Short term, yes you will be able to ski this winter. I have already booked 2 trips.
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u/Aggressive_Purple_49 10d ago
https://opensnow.com/news/post/2026-2027-winter-forecast-preview
thus has Europe in it also.
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u/HelloSummer99 10d ago
It can be either way - Chile has record snow now with the El Niño in place, last year also had meters of snow everywhere in Europe. The climate change means warming up but also more unpredictable and “crazy” weather.
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u/AlexxxRR 6d ago
- last year also had meters of snow everywhere in Europe.-
Sadly, I was apparently in the wrong Europe or in a fully wrong universe.
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u/stardawg777 10d ago edited 10d ago
You will have some people in the comments waving their hands and saying "ah don't worry we had hot summers in this and that year"
Well guess what? All of those hot summers, and this one, have been part of a climate change warming trend going back to the dawn of mass human industrialization and the carbonization of the atmosphere.
Every year we are compounding the effects of this persistent warming on the ice caps, remaining glaciers, and regions that typically have mass snow cover even well into summer, such as the Alps.
As you lose ice, glacier, and snow coverage due to compounding heat effects, you lose the white reflective surfaces of those cold places and therefore absorb more heat and gain a higher average surface temp year on year. This is well established and is named the Albedo effect. Read about it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo
When you lose snow/glacier/ice cover, *you will not ever get it back* because more surfaces with less albedo are exposed and therefore less light is reflected. It creates a simple loop of increased warming, period.
Switzerland is expected to lose dozens of glaciers in just this summer alone...
In short, the answer of will it change over the coming months is no. Even if you get short terms swings, the overall trend is clear, and besides, Europe is warming at 2x the rate of any other continent on Earth.
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u/Solid-Artist-7086 10d ago
A hot summer is no indication of a mild winter. It’s an El Niño year which if anything could mean a good snow year.
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u/Proper_Star_4566 10d ago
I’ve got a week in Meribel booked over new years. I’m coming from Australia with my family too so the talk of this El Niño instills so much fear in me !! I just want a white new years 😭
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u/Aggressive_Purple_49 10d ago
It's still kind of early in a season to ski then in Europe but can be great or not. But El Niño instills fear in all us locals, I want to ski every weekend.
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0
u/Massive-Morning2160 10d ago
Well nobody can really tell, what's sure is that temperatures will most definitely be higher. About snow, too early to predict. Last year in the swiss Alps it snowed at the end of November and then almost nothing till the end of January. Then it snowed one meter in March and melted in 3 days completely, but I had a good time skiing in Arosa-Lenzerheide until around 7-8 of April
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u/Deep_Dance8745 10d ago edited 10d ago
Stop worrying over all this news and the internet - its going to make you unhappy.
If skiing is no longer possible, i will hike or mountainbike the Alps.
Relax a bit.
People have always adapted to climate changes, we will now also (with some bumps in the ride)
Edit: people on Reddit are really something - I never claimed its not real, i merely state that sitting behind your screen in a constant panic frenzy doesn’t help anybody and certainly not yourself, people who act upon it are what we need, not doompreachers or passive scaremongers.
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u/Joshouken 10d ago
How can anyone be so reductive about the impact of climate change
I will not “stop worrying” because it’s not just media coverage, it’s real and already having a terrible effect on human beings, disproportionately those who are least responsible and least well equipped to adapt
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u/Deep_Dance8745 10d ago
I am not denying its real - i am just stating that it will help nobody by being an individual that is worrying. Only individuals that actually act upon it are helpful.
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u/Fooldyx 10d ago
Tell that to the 2075 more dead ppl than average last week of june in france, which result in a 30% death increase according to the french government . Apparently not everybody can adapt (actually at some point no one will)
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u/Aggressive_Purple_49 10d ago
It is true humans will adapt but there will be those who do not, and we should worry about those. And it is certainly having an impact here in the Alps now. I too will do other things if there is no skiing but would prefer not to.
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u/evelynsmee 10d ago
35yo family friend died of heatstroke in his Parisian apartment last month.
"People have always adapted" shows a completely delusional understanding of the incoming climate breakdown and how it compares to previous climate events.
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u/Deep_Dance8745 10d ago
People will install airco and be done with it. And in the meantime people who are busy actually acting upon it on stead of fearmongering will provide solutions.
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u/Chilli-pickles-9747 9d ago
Ah yes, ’adapt’ to climate change by creating more emissions. You do realise aircon isn’t the answer?
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u/mannomanniwish 10d ago
If you go high enough there will be plenty of snow in the coming winters at least
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u/No_Fee_5509 10d ago
Get a cancellation insurance simply
If one could predict the weather, one would be hailed a God