Climate Change Squeezes Winter Olympics Snowmakers as Cold Windows Shrink
The race is intensifying for snowmaking teams preparing for the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, as they confront the formidable challenge of creating competitive conditions amid rapidly changing climatic patterns. Climate change is fundamentally reshaping the operational landscape, forcing organisers to depend more heavily than ever on sophisticated artificial snow production systems to compensate for diminishing natural snowfall.
Narrowing Windows and Expanding Infrastructure
Across Italy's celebrated Alpine venues, including Livigno, Bormio, Cortina d'Ampezzo, and Antholz-Anterselva, the traditional reliance on predictable winter weather has been upended. Declining and increasingly erratic natural snowfall means meticulous months of preparation must now be compressed into brief, unpredictable periods of sub-zero temperatures. This leaves virtually no margin for error in creating the precise conditions required for Olympic competition.
In response, established resorts have undertaken significant infrastructure expansions, constructing additional reservoirs, pump stations, and deploying advanced snow guns to meet the exacting standards of the Games. Livigno alone has generated over 600,000 cubic metres of snow since mid-December specifically for freestyle skiing and snowboarding events, highlighting the massive scale of modern snowmaking operations.
The Technical Battle Against Warming Winters
Nemanja Dogo, executive technical manager at leading snowmaking specialist TechnoAlpin, which supplies systems to numerous Olympic and World Cup venues, explained the critical timing involved. "After Christmas we had temperatures down to minus 22 degrees, which was a very good period to make snow," Dogo stated, emphasising how production is now accelerated during these fleeting cold spells.
Efficient snow formation typically requires wet-bulb temperatures of approximately minus 2 to minus 2.5 degrees Celsius. However, these crucial meteorological windows are contracting alarmingly. "The windows to get ready for the first of December are getting shorter and shorter," Dogo warned, outlining one of the most pressing operational challenges.
Climate researchers confirm this trend. Caitlin Hicks Pries, an associate professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College who specialises in winter climate change, highlighted the compounding difficulty. "It’s not just like the fact that you’re losing natural snow, you’re also losing the days that you need to make snow," she noted, describing a dual threat to winter sports.
Europe's southern alpine regions are particularly vulnerable. "The farther south in Europe you are, the more likely you are to have these snow droughts," Hicks Pries added. This geographical pressure forces resorts to produce vast quantities of snow rapidly, placing immense strain on infrastructure, staffing, and energy systems during increasingly rare cold snaps.
Technological Advances and Energy Concerns
Despite these mounting challenges, snowmaking technology has evolved dramatically over the past two decades. Driven by automation, enhanced weather forecasting, and significant efficiency gains, what once required around 150 hours to prepare a priority slope had been reduced to about 100 hours by 2018. Today, many leading resorts aim to complete these critical slopes in approximately 50 hours.
"With the same power consumption as 10 to 15 years ago, we can now produce about 25% more snow," Dogo revealed, noting that TechnoAlpin invests roughly 8 million euros annually in research and development. Much of this investment focuses on sophisticated software that integrates snow guns, pump stations, and real-time weather forecasts. This allows for predictive snow production modelling and automated system operation to maximise efficiency and minimise waste.
However, climate scientists caution that technological innovation cannot circumvent fundamental physical laws. "We need low freezing temperatures for snow. We need low freezing temperatures to make snow," Hicks Pries reiterated, underscoring an immutable constraint.
Energy consumption remains a significant concern as snowmaking efforts intensify under tighter deadlines. Snowmaking systems typically operate for 250 to 300 hours annually. Fan guns consume around 20 to 25 kilowatts per hour, while lance guns use 1.5 to 4 kilowatts per hour, depending on specific conditions.
In Austria, the entire ski industry—encompassing snowmaking, lifts, and hotels—accounts for about 2 per cent of national electricity consumption, with a slightly smaller proportion in Switzerland. Hicks Pries contextualised the carbon footprint, stating, "Electricity demands for snowmaking are about 2 to 4% of a snow resort’s total carbon emissions." She added, "Transportation together is 50 to 80%," indicating where the largest environmental impact lies.
Future Viability and the Olympic Test
While some critics suggest that rising energy costs and shrinking cold windows could render large-scale snowmaking prohibitively expensive, Dogo maintains a cautiously optimistic outlook. He does not foresee snowmaking becoming economically unsustainable in the immediate future, citing continued global growth in skier participation. "The key is efficiency," he asserted. "Producing more snow with the same power, and switching systems on when conditions are right and off immediately when they are not."
For the International Olympic Committee, the Winter Games are evolving into a critical proving ground for how effectively advanced snowmaking can counteract the mounting pressures of climate change. Several independent studies indicate that the number of cities worldwide capable of reliably hosting the Winter Olympics is dwindling, raising profound questions about the event's long-term future.
Hicks Pries issued a stark warning about the limits of technological adaptation. "With four degrees Celsius of warming, 98% of European ski resorts are going to be threatened with low snow supply," she cautioned. "Right now, snowmaking can cover for the change that we’re seeing if they have the resources. But that can’t go on." The Milano Cortina 2026 Games may well represent a pivotal moment in determining whether winter sports can sustainably adapt to our warming world.
