Abandoned ski resorts haunt the Swiss Alps

More than 50 ski lifts are abandoned in the Swiss mountains, warns an NGO. Provided for by law, their dismantling is still overdue and, while official figures are still lacking, these installations threaten nature.

Over the past 50 years, more than 150 ski resorts have closed their doors in Switzerland, particularly at the turn of the Millennium. However, not all of these facilities have been completely dismantled. Our mountains, on the contrary, teem with abandoned infrastructure: rusty pylons, ruined buildings, cables and metal beams clutter the Alpine landscape and pose serious problems.

“First of all, old stations can present a considerable risk of injury to wildlife if the cable is still stretched,” explains Luisa Deubzer, project manager for the NGO Mountain Wilderness Switzerland.

Without forgetting other impacts. “The unbuilt landscape is an increasingly rare resource in the Alps,” says Luisa Deubzer. “We are only expanding our human space, and we are getting more and more accustomed to finding human traces everywhere.” This is why restoring the original state of the landscape in places where exploitation has been abandoned is so important, she continues.

Around fifty known cases

This is not an easy task. As many ski lifts are subject to the cantons and municipalities, authorities do not have an overview of the number of installations and do not know how many of them are still in operation. To compensate for this lack of information, the NGO launched, last year, a site listing abandoned infrastructure, which everyone can help to complete.

Verdict? 55 abandoned ski lifts have been identified by Mountain Wilderness in Switzerland. The cantons of Vaud and Bern are the most affected by this phenomenon, which affects the entire Alpine arc. In most cases, these are pylons, but also the station downstream or upstream, which has sometimes not been completely demolished. Luisa Deubzer points out, however, that no one knows the exact number of abandoned facilities.

Added to this are also obsolete installations of military, agricultural and industrial origin, which further extend the list.

Projects that will never come true

One might wonder why there are so many abandoned ski lifts in Switzerland. The law is however clear, and provides that, “when the cable installation is permanently taken out of service, it is dismantled at the expense of the owner”. But things don’t always happen that way.

“This situation often results in considerable costs and dismantling is often postponed for a long time,” illustrates Luisa Deubzer. Especially since no concrete deadline is provided for in the law. “In addition, dismantling is often postponed indefinitely, in the hope of being able to bring the ski lift back to life through a new project which often never comes to fruition,” she adds.

The head of the NGO also denounces “a very widespread erroneous perception”: eliminating an object would be less interesting than creating another. Luisa Deubzer:

Nine out of ten stations are at risk

One thing is certain: climate change will only make the problem worse. “That’s for sure,” comments Luisa Deubzer. The lack of snow is already a problem for ski resorts, especially those located below 1500 meters – almost half of the country’s ski areas.

The forecasts are pessimistic. With an increase in temperatures of 3°C compared to the period 1850-1900, 87% of Swiss ski resorts are at high risk of finding themselves deprived of natural snow, estimated last year a study published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change. A percentage which rises to 99% if warming reaches 4°C.

The length of the useful season has been reduced by one month since 1960, Mountain Wilderness adds on its site. Faced with this change in conditions, we build even more, ever higher, deplores the NGO. And to castigate the “rampant gigantism which would like to artificially prolong the life of a stagnant industry”.

The lack of snow is just one of the difficulties resorts face. They must also face increased pressure from competition and demographic change. Indeed, as pointed out Time at the start of the year, skiing was in free fall in Switzerland. In the space of around thirty years, use of the slopes has fallen by almost 30%.

Act on the ground

Without waiting for things to get even worse, Mountain Wilderness has already taken action. Following the model of the French section, the association organized participatory dismantling projects. “Tasks are distributed among volunteers according to their skills and preferences,” explains Luisa Deubzer.

Last year, old barbed wire was removed from a patch of forest in La Robella (NE). A second action took place in Ernen (VS), and a third is planned for next year, in Entlebuch (LU), where volunteers will tackle an old military barrier.

More substantial operations could follow. Mountain Wilderness France, which has organized more than 70 participatory projects, could inspire Swiss colleagues. “They have two decades of experience in this field,” notes Luisa Deubzer. “We are in the process of planning a larger joint project with them, so that we can learn from their experience.”

A concrete deadline

If these actions make the problem visible and attract the attention of the population, real change must occur elsewhere: in the political arena. For this reason, Mountain Wilderness is working to change the law.

“We believe that there should be a concrete deadline within which disused ski lifts must be dismantled,” says Luisa Deubzer. This would ensure that dismantling could no longer be postponed to an uncertain date. Secondly, the NGO wishes to create a fund to pay for dismantling when the operator or owner of the land is no longer able to do so.

“It should be obvious that when investing in a new project, the costs of the entire life cycle are included,” she adds. And to conclude: