#IMC: September 14 - 18 2025

Snowmaking in Austria: Key data, resource consumption and CO2 emissions

Assigned Session: FS 3.133: Climate change and tourism – Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation

Abstract ID: 3.13363 | Accepted as Talk | Talk | TBA | TBA

Günther Aigner (1)
Robert Steiger (2), Marius Mayer (3)
(1) University of Innsbruck, Dorfstraße 30, 6370 Waidring, AT
(2) University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
(3) Munich University of Applied Sciences, Lothstr. 34, 80335 Munich, Germany

Categories: Adaptation, Economy, Sustainable Development, Tourism, Water Resources
Keywords: Snowmaking, Ski Tourism, Carbon emissions, Energy consumption, Sustainability

Categories: Adaptation, Economy, Sustainable Development, Tourism, Water Resources
Keywords: Snowmaking, Ski Tourism, Carbon emissions, Energy consumption, Sustainability

Download
Download

Introduction & Purpose
Global warming has steadily increased the pressure on ski tourism (Steiger et al., 2021) which is of great economic importance in Austria (MANOVA, 2019). Snowmaking is considered a central adaptation strategy for ski tourism in the face of climate change (Knowles et al., 2023). Despite the poor reputation of snowmaking in public discourse (Die Presse, 2022), there has been little research to date on its resource consumption (Knowles et al., 2023). This study provides key data on energy and water consumption of snowmaking and resulting CO2 emissions.
Methods
A questionnaire was sent out to 141 ski resorts in Austria. Data for six ski seasons was returned at the required quality level from 30 small, medium-sized and large ski resorts. The sample covers 34% of Austrian skier visits.
Results
The ski resorts in the sample convert an average of 3,501 m³ of water per hectare and season into snow. The energy input is 24,449 kWh per hectare or 5.4 kWh per skier visit. The carbon footprint in the sample is 54 grams of CO2 per skier visit. The projections for the whole of Austria show an electricity requirement of 281 to 308 GWh per season. CO2 emissions are estimated at 2,829 tons.
Discussion
According to estimates in the literature, the total electricity demand for snowmaking in Austria is between 335 and 950 GWh per season (Steiger et al., 2021). Our extrapolated values of 281 to 308 GWh, which are based on the first evidence-based survey of its kind, are below this range. The carbon footprint of snowmaking seems small compared to the carbon footprint of ski tourists’ travel to and from the resort (Steiger et al., 2021). The CO2 footprint of snowmaking of 54 grams per skier visit corresponds to a 0.4-kilometer drive in a diesel-powered car (Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, 2023).
Conclusion
The consumption data for snowmaking in Austria assumed in the literature appear to be too high. Incorporating the data obtained here could lead to a more objective discourse on snowmaking.

Choose the session you want to submit an abstract. Please be assured that similar sessions will either be scheduled consecutively or merged once the abstract submission phase is completed.

Select your preferred presentation mode
Please visit the session format page to get a detailed view on the presentation timings
The final decision on oral/poster is made by the (Co-)Conveners and will be communicated via your My#IMC dashboard

Please add here your abstract meeting the following requirements:
NO REFERNCES/KEYWORDS/ACKNOWEDGEMENTS IN AN ABSTRACT!
Limits: min 100 words, max 350 words or 2500 characters incl. tabs
Criteria: use only UTF-8 HTML character set, no equations/special characters/coding
Copy/Paste from an external editor is possible but check/reformat your text before submitting (e.g. bullet points, returns, aso)

Add here affiliations (max. 30) for you and your co-author(s). Use the row number to assign the affiliation to you and your co-author(s).
When you hover over the row number you are able to change the order of the affiliation list.

1
2
3
1
Add Affiliation(s)

Add here co-author(s) (max. 30) to your abstract. Please assign the affiliation(s) of each co-author in the "Assigned Aff. No" by using the corresponding numbers from the "Affiliation List" (e.g.: 1,2,...)
When you hover over the row number you are able to change the order of the co-author list.

1
2
1
Add Co-Author(s)
1
2
3
4
5
1
Add Keyword
Close