Lack of Snow Disrupts Swiss Winter Sports, from Ticino Ski Resorts to Sled Dog Races

The alarm bells are ringing louder than ever in Southern Switzerland. Ticino’s ski resorts are currently grappling with one of their most difficult winters on record, as a "bizarre climate" leaves slopes bare and lift operators scrambling. In a region where champions like Lara Gut-Behrami cut their teeth, the snow line has retreated dramatically, leaving resorts like Carì and Airolo—sitting between 1,650 and 2,300 meters—staring at green pastures in January. The situation is so critical that resort managers are now forcing short-time working measures for staff, a desperate move to stem financial bleeding.

The numbers paint a grim picture of the season's start. At Bosco/Gurin, owner Giovanni Frapolli reported a staggering low of just 250 average daily guests over the crucial Christmas period. "On one day, there were 320 – which is very few," Frapolli admitted, attributing the collapse to the erratic climate. While the Blenio Valley has managed to keep some slopes open thanks to aggressive artificial snowmaking, the reliance on technology to fight nature is becoming an expensive, uphill battle. The southern Alps are feeling the heat more intensely than their northern counterparts, threatening to turn winter tourism in the region into a memory.

In a surreal display of adaptation, the 53rd international sled dog races in Saignelégier took place without a single flake of snow on the ground. For the second consecutive year, the lush grass of the Franches-Montagnes replaced the icy tracks of the Jura, forcing a radical shift in equipment. Instead of sleds gliding over powder, huskies hauled karts with wheels and mountain bikes, a jarring visual that underscores the permanence of the region's warming trend.

While the event managed to draw 7,000 spectators—proving the public's enduring love for the sport—the impact on the competition itself was devastating. Participation plummeted from a typical roster of 130 mushers to a mere 45. "You can’t compare a green year with a white year," stated Toinette Wisard, co-president of the organizing committee. The shift to a "green option" was a necessary survival tactic to avoid cancellation, guaranteeing the safety of the dogs but fundamentally altering the spirit of the race. As the snow line recedes, these "winter" events are rapidly transforming into off-road endurance tests, signaling a new, snowless normal for the Jura region.

Cross-country skiing, once the accessible winter pastime of the masses, is facing a steep and painful retraction. The 1,000-meter altitude mark, previously a reliable threshold for Nordic sports, is no longer safe. Laurent Donzé, president of Romandie Ski de Fond, describes the situation with brutal clarity: "We are in a process of retraction." The decline in ski days is not just a weather statistic; it is an existential threat to the sport's culture in the Jura and beyond.

The cascading effects are alarming. Fewer open trails mean fewer young athletes entering the sport, diminishing media visibility, and drying up sponsorship deals. The casual skier is vanishing. "Only the addicts will go looking for the snow," Donzé predicts, noting that "polysportspeople" are already defecting to mountain biking or running. Unlike alpine resorts that can invest in massive snowmaking infrastructure, Nordic centers face a harder reality: artificial snow is often too expensive and contradicts the ecological ethos of the sport. As the snow retreats to higher altitudes, cross-country skiing is morphing from a popular tradition into a rare, exclusive luxury.

As the climate shifts, the survival of Swiss winter sports is increasingly becoming a question of cold, hard cash. In Ticino, the cantonal parliament has stepped in with a massive CHF 6 million ($7.7 million) loan to prop up struggling resorts over the next four seasons. This financial injection is a critical lifeline, keeping lifts turning in an era where ticket sales alone can no longer guarantee solvency. Without these subsidies, the lights would likely go out permanently for many southern ski areas.

However, money cannot buy cooler temperatures. Resorts are pivoting aggressively: Bosco/Gurin is planning solar installations and water reservoirs to optimize snow production, attempting to out-engineer the climate crisis. Yet, the long-term forecast remains uncertain. As low-altitude skiing withers and "winter" events take place on grass, Switzerland is being forced to reimagine its identity. The era of guaranteed white winters is over; the era of adaptation—costly, difficult, and urgent—has begun.