Managing for resilience in the face of climate change: The adaptive capacity of U.S ski areas

This presentation will examine how many North American ski areas of all sizes are adopting innovative measures that improve their adaptive capacity to deal with the slow-change variable of climate change. This is an important... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation will examine how many North American ski areas of all sizes are adopting innovative measures that improve their adaptive capacity to deal with the slow-change variable of climate change. This is an important area of examination for the ski industry, given the dynamic interaction between climate change and the fast-change variables of fluctuating visitor numbers, revenue, and thus profitability; all of which have significant economic impacts for ski areas and their surrounding communities. Resilience, defined as ‘the long-term capacity of a system to deal with change and continue to develop’ (Stockholm Resilience Center, 2015, p. 3), is used as a theoretical framework to aid this examination. In particular, surrogates are applied to investigate the resilience concepts of latitude, resistance, and precariousness to demonstrate how ski areas are responding to climate change within fragile alpine environments. By examining how resilience is managed and operationalized within the U.S ski industry, identification of the factors that influence the adaptive capacity of ski areas towards climate change can be gained. Preliminary insights indicate that those ski areas best positioned to adapt to the increasing uncertainty resulting from climate change appear to have recognized the importance of partnerships to seek, fund, and supply innovative initiatives; the link between innovation and return on investment; and the value and power of communicating their efforts to stakeholders. Such knowledge can provide ski area managers with an understanding of how to build on their adaptive capacity towards climate change to enable their continued function and success in what is an increasingly stressed alpine environment.