“An existential threat”: Endless summer could melt NSW’s $700m snow season by 2050

NSW business owners in the Snowy Mountains have been warned the lucrative snow season will disappear by 2050 if we do not act fast to avoid the worst effects of climate change, putting a $700 million tourism industry at risk — and locals say they’re alarmed and sad.

A new tool from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has tracked the temperature change in 15,000 locations throughout Australia and found the average temperature of numerous places would increase by up to 4.8 degrees Celsius.

Among them is Thredbo, a popular winter destination for cashed-up skiers and snowboarders in Australia and abroad, where the temperature change would be so drastic there would no longer be snowfall by mid-century.

In 2022, some $716.1 million was spent on accommodation, food, alcohol, and recreation by 1.4 million visitors to the Snowy Mountains, up 1.8% from the year before, according to Destination NSW.

“It’s no exaggeration to say climate change presents an existential threat to snow-based industries in Australia,” ACF’s climate change program manager Gavan McFadzean told SmartCompany.

“The predicted temperature rises in Australia’s alpine regions under a business-as-usual scenario should be a serious concern to all those people whose livelihoods rely on snow in winter.

“Our climate future is shaped by what we do today, so we need to quickly shift away from burning coal and gas, ramp up renewable energy use and protect and restore nature.”

Thredbo retailer Reggae Ellis, who has lived in the area for thirty years, told SmartCompany he had no doubt in his mind: there’s less snow in the Snowy Mountains now than in earlier years.

“The seasons are warmer — while we did get two big snowfalls in late May and early June last year, it was followed by mild temperatures in June and July,” he said.

“Snow-making temps were marginal and the snow cover at lower elevations was always fragile.”

Ellis, who runs two RipCurl shops in Thredbo and Jindabyne, said the season is shortening too — the snowpack all but disappears as soon as springtime hits.

“In earlier years the snow cover would last well into November but it now drops off very quickly due to warmer temps … from mid-September,” he said.

“Four degrees warming by 2050 is very alarming and pretty sad.”

The MyClimate 2050 tool was created by Geoff Hinchcliffe, from the Australian National University, using 2050 climate projections from the CSIRO.

“The tool aims to give people a personal and localised appreciation of climate ideas that are typically considered at global scales, which can be difficult to comprehend,” Hinchcliffe said.

“It’s a form of storytelling, a way to bring climate data into an everyday context and remind people of the urgent need to act.”

And it seems local businesses are not wasting any time. In 2019, Thredbo snow resort became Australia’s first to have all its major operations powered by renewable energy.

“Becoming powered by renewable energy has been our goal for some time now and by achieving this we’ve set the environmental benchmark for Australian resorts,” the resort’s general manager Stuart Diver said.

“We are extremely proud to be at the forefront of reducing our carbon footprint into the future.”

One year earlier, the Protect Our Winters campaign was kicked off at the Mount Buller and Thredbo ski resorts by Chris Davenport, a two-time World Extreme Skiing Champion and US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Famer.

Protect Our Winters was founded by professional US snowboarder Jeremy Jones in 2007 to turn athletes and snow businesses into powerful climate advocates to save snow tourism hubs all over the planet.

Ellis contended rising temperatures were a huge concern for him and fellow business owners, who stake their livelihood on snowfall bringing the tourist dollars.

“We’re in the mountains, so our whole livelihood in Jindabyne and Thredbo depends on snow. Personally, climate change and the lack of action is a big issue because if there’s no snow, the place ceases to exist,” he said.