VAULION, Switzerland (Reuters) – The once-popular Dent-de-Vaulion ski runs in the Swiss Jura Mountains are now empty as warm weather has driven away winter sports enthusiasts and forced ski resorts to close across the country.
Abandoned ski lift poles sway in the wind. The ground is covered in crusty snow and stretches of yellowing grass. Lift pylons stand alone in rocky terrain where lively crowds once braved cold temperatures.
Switzerland, a major ski destination, is warming at about twice the global average rate, partly due to its mountains trapping heat, according to a report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
January was unusually warm, with temperatures hovering more than 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 Fahrenheit) above the average between 1990 and 2020, according to MeteoSwiss, the country’s federal office for meteorology and climatology.
“We are breaking records so frequently that it doesn’t feel exceptional anymore when it actually is,” said Christophe Salamin, a meteorologist at MeteoSwiss. “We haven’t heard of any cold records in Switzerland for years.”
On Friday, at more than 1,400 meters (4,593 feet) above sea level, winter seemed almost over in Dent-de-Vaulion. Skies were clear and temperatures mild at 9 degrees Celsius, far above the normal January level of around -1 Celsius.
Next week is expected to be even warmer, at around 11 degrees.
Mountain Wilderness, an NGO focused on preserving mountainous areas, reported last year that 65 ski lifts were rusting away due to the lack of snow and unusually high temperatures.
(Reporting by Denis Balibouse and Cécile Mantovani; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Richard Chang)
