Climate change is increasingly becoming a significant threat to the ski industry. While this industry has always been fairly volatile, and has always had to deal with being at the mercy of the weather, it seems almost inevitable that global climate change could eventually wipe the industry out for good.

Advances in snow-making technology have allowed resorts to keep up with the effects of climate change. It is unlikely, however, that these efforts will last. As stated in this NY Times article, “So far, technology has been keeping up with climate change […] its probably improving faster than climate change is happening. That may not be the case for long. It is uncertain as to what extent snow-making will last as an adaptation strategy” (Seelye).

This brings in both the issues of transient advantage and macro environment in a business setting. While different ski resorts do have to compete with one another, the main competitor is the weather. Developing a transient advantage will be very difficult for those in the ski industry, and might ultimately be impossible. This also makes it very likely that smaller ski resorts who can’t afford the technology won’t be able to keep up. (See link)

As someone who loves skiing, the effects of the trends that have been observed would be very sad indeed.

Works cited:

Seelye, Katharine Q. “Rising Temperatures Threaten Fundamental Change for Ski Slopes.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.

Image: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/06/07/ski-industry-calls-effective-climate-change-policies-avoid-drifting-away