Midwest turns into snow agriculture to save winter sports

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The writer is A contributory columnist, based in Chicago

Winter is shortening in the American Midwest, threatening the beloved ski culture, ice fishing, dog sledding and ice roads. But now midwesterors use technology to retaliate. Practices such as the manufacture of more efficient snow and even “snow agriculture” become more common in our attempt to extend winter pleasure.

A seaside resort of Michigan promises that by agriculture – to spot it, pick it up and stack it at a self – – – -hand depth of 20 feet on a slope – Skiing can continue until summer. “You can ski in the morning and play 18 golf holes in the afternoon on the same property,” said Jason Perl, managing director of Michigan's Boyne Mountain Resort. Temperatures in the region have average summits of more than 21 ° C in June: it was not skiing time when I was in this station in my childhood and broke my ankle.

“We can no longer count on Mother Nature. Due to climate change, we had to be more versatile, ”explains Perl. “We had to invest in better snow manufacturing – these days, it doesn't even need to be cold outside to make snow.”

Perl says Boyne, a Low altitude resort with only one 500 feet Ski Hill, will first have to do most of its snow in order to cultivate it. But at Monarch Mountain in Colorado, with a basic area at more than 10,000 feet, snow is never made – only cultivated. Malcolm Wilber, deputy director of operations there, tells me that this is a intensive affairs, Cutting the grass to minimize the amount of snow required to cover a slope, using pop-up fences to trap snow for agriculture.

Climate change has exerted pressure on low -altitude stations to find new solutions, according to winter sports experts. According to the “climate change indicators” of the Environmental Protection Agency, the American snow coverage season shortened almost two weeks Between 1972 and 2013, with the last day of snow earlier by 19 days.

This hit the American ski industry hard. A study find lost $ 5 billion Between 2000 and 2019 due to climate change. Lack of snow has also reached the demand for snowmobile: two of the largest snowmobile producers are interrupt productionsaid Jaime Katz de Morningstar.

But irony is that climate change is at the same time Increase in snowfall in areas close to the great lakes. These lakes, which represent approximately a fifth of fresh water on earth, are part of fastest around the world, according to a study on the climate of the United States government. The annual coverage of maximum ice cream lakes decreased by approximately 5% per decade Between 1973 and 2023. And when they do not freeze, no more water can evaporate and fall on neighboring land as Snow “lake effect”. So less ice can lead to more snow – which could be good for ski resorts like Boyne.

But that will not help sports as ice fishing,, dog sled Or my own favorite, Drive through frozen lakes in cars. All these elements have seen festivals canceled due to the lack of snow or ice – especially last year, the hottest Recorded for Michigan and Wisconsin.

“It will be an increasingly important problem. Over the next decades, you simply cannot do these sports,” said Donald Wuebbles, professor emeritus of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois. He adds that snow consumes fossil fuels and uses a lot of water. Americans may need to go to Canada for winter pleasure in the future, said climate experts – assuming Canadians are still ready to have them.

Shelby Brunner of the observation system of the great non -profit lakes says that less ice will have a “cultural impact” on the Midwest. “I remember my father and my grandfather fishing in the ice in the 1990s (in Michigan), but they don't do it because the ice is not reliable enough.” And a season radically shortened “is not worth the effort”.

So, my generation will be the last to grow up in a slum on a frozen lake, ice fishing with a grandparent? Will we safely cross a midwest lake in winter, just to arrive on the other side? Perhaps thus – but as Brunner notes, this “makes room for new activities in the future”. Ski and golf the same day, maybe.