Bosnia’s ski industry is taking a blow as images of skiers surrounded by mud instead of snow do the rounds in the media. The situation is so bad that February’s Women’s Ski Super G European Cup, due to be held at Mount Bjelašnica, was recently called off.
Miserable anniversary
At 2,067 metres (6,780 feet), Mount Bjelašnica, on the southwestern outskirts of Sarajevo, should have an Alpine tundra climate and has a reputation as being one of the most affordable ski offerings in Europe. But it is suffering the same fate as many lower altitude resorts around the world, with smaller snowsport destinations below 1,500 metres (4,920ft) particularly hard hit, according to National Geographic.
The Bosnian season has seen a warm December, the world’s warmest January, and only a short spell of colder temperatures and snow before another melt in February. It’s a miserable way to mark the 40th anniversary of 1984’s Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, with ski cannons idle and skiers pictured on narrow strips of snow among fields of mud.
WATCH: Visitors to Bosnia's Mount Bjelasnica had to lug their skis through mud to reach ski-lifts, as spring-like weather spoilt their usual winter activities https://t.co/7tQOGLt431 pic.twitter.com/BCTB2Y0pZF
— Reuters Asia (@ReutersAsia) February 22, 2024
Three months of snow could be lost
The Alpine climate has suffered a temperature rise of 2°C over the last 100 years. If greenhouse emissions continue at today’s rates, says a Hydrology and Earth System Sciences study, then by the year 2100 even elevations of 2,500 metres and above (8,200ft) are predicted to lose three months of snow.
Another study led by the University of Grenoble and Meteo France found as many as 1,184 ski resorts, across 28 European countries could be in jeopardy with global warming of 2°C. That’s over half the ski resorts studied, and that figure reaches a colossal 98% of them at risk if global warming reaches 4°C.
Many ski destinations have turned towards artificial snow and are wrestling with how to make the electricity and water intensive process more sustainable. Others are looking at solutions such as indoor skiing in snow tunnels. But will snowsport enthusiasts still want to come?
Still, other resorts are already diversifying to offer “four season” reasons to visit, developing spas, hiking, biking and climbing as alternative income streams throughout the year.
The Tourism Bosnia and Herzegovina website is still getting there. It continues to describe the area as having a “collision of the air masses from the mountains and the sea (which) causes large amounts of snow to fall and this is the reason why Bjelašnica is covered with snow from November to May. Sometimes in the summer months as well.” But the agency’s outdoor pages also promote hiking, biking and visiting Sarajevo among its offering.
