Climate Change And Mountain Recreation

Mountains have experienced rapid and intense warming over the last few decades, resulting in glacial retreat and diminished snowpacks, which in turn has negatively impacted mountain tourism. The limited literature exploring this topic indicates that climate change will directly (e.g., shorter seasons) and indirectly (e.g., increase occurrence and severity of natural hazards) impact winter recreation. Despite extensive literature documenting these changes, research examining how residents, tourism operators, and key stakeholders in mountain communities experience, respond, and adapt to climate change is underdeveloped. This lack of information undermines our ability to devise adaptation plans capable of securing just and sustainable futures for mountain regions and their communities. Thus, the purpose of this session is to provide a synthesis of research on climate change and winter recreation, including stakeholder perceptions, adaptation strategies, and research gaps that need to be addressed to advance adaptation in tourism-reliant mountain communities.