Climate Change Closes Small Swiss Ski Area for Good

Skilift Schratten Flühli, a small ski area with two lifts in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, has permanently closed due to several operational factors.

In a message shared on its website earlier this month, Skilift Schratten Flühli explained that for the past 12 years, it has only been able to operate for about half the duration of any given winter, presumably due to a lack of snowfall.

"Now we too can no longer defy the forces of nature," the ski area wrote.

The Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss reports that , because of global warming, precipitation now falls more often as rain rather than snow in Switzerland, particularly in low-lying areas. Skilift Schratten Flühli is located about 3,281 feet above sea level. The peak of Mont Blanc—a popular extreme skiing destination in Europe—is over 15,000 feet high, but even there, the glaciers are retreating.

The Skilift Schratten Flühli team cited additional challenges that contributed to the closure, including the need for lift maintenance (patrons and donors have contributed over 100,000 CHF to Skilift Schratten Flühli since 2012) and a decreasing amount of skier traffic lost to nearby larger snowsports destinations. The closure of Thorbach Beizli, a restaurant near the base of Skilift Schratten Flühli, was also among the reasons cited.

"We regret this step very much. We are aware that this will end a piece of Fühler's history, and another traditional ski area will disappear," the statement published by Skilift Schratten Flühli reads.

Skilift Schratten Flühli began operating in 1945 with Lucerne's first T-bar lift. The ski area closed in 2011 due to financial difficulties, but reopened the following year after Schneesportfreunde Flühli, a group of enthusiasts, took over operations. Now, the ski area is slated for dismantling.

Other lower-elevation ski areas throughout Europe have faced similar difficulties. In March, the BBC reported that Rüschegg Eywald, a small Swiss ski area known as "Little Gridenwald" in honor of its larger resort neighbor, hadn't opened its T-bar lift once. According to the ski area's website , the closure lasted through winter's end.

"I'm a realist, I think in 10 years we won't be in business," Michael Kegel—who runs Rüschegg Eywald—told the BBC . "Climate change is clear; we can see it. The days with snow are fewer and fewer."

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