Ski resort

A winter sports area is a shared for skiing and snowboarding, cross-country skiing or just generally winter sports tourist area. Here, the tourist operation is not limited to the winter. In winter activities, which are in the range of a glacier, the entire year is partly possible about winter sports, as here, where the necessary degrees below zero. In the summer season, many ski areas also serve recreation and sporting activities, such as hiking or mountain biking.

Classic winter sports areas

Classic winter sports areas are usually in mountainous areas. The mountains and a continental climate with temperatures falling below freezing in winter, are important prerequisites to operate the traditional winter sports of skiing, sledding or snowboarding can. Popular ski resorts such as in the Alpine regions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, northern Italy, Slovenia and France, but also in the Czech Republic, Poland and in North America and Canada. In the regions where there is significant elevations (mountains ) are missing or where climatic conditions preclude a ski resort in the wild, currently being propagated indoor ski slopes. Winter sports is so even in the desert, such as Dubai, are possible.

One of developed by cable cars and ski slopes of a mountain range, in the especially skiing and snowboarding is operated, is also called the resort ( ski area in Austria ). The operator of a ski resort - usually a business - not even owns the hill country used for the installation of ski slopes usually, but leases it from the landowners.

Economic Importance

A winter sports area is a major tourist attraction. Austria alone generated by the operation of ski areas around 7.11 billion euros a year in value, calculated we add more indirect effects, the value of the network effect increases, according to winter sports even to 11 billion euros. Bavarian winter sports areas come in the winter season to about 168 million days trips and 27.4 million overnight stays, which generate gross revenues of 2559.2 million euros.

Problems

The biggest problems for winter sports areas are currently in the climatic change, global warming. In winters, the snow remains in some traditional winter sports areas of partially or completely the season does not start until very late in the year. So the start of the ski season in Switzerland in 2011 moved from the first weekend in December to almost into January. Also, in some German and Austrian ski resorts had the opening of the slopes be moved because the temperatures were too high to produce snow areas with snow cannons. The high temperatures and lack of rain in the winters not only meet professional winter sports, but also harm the tourism in the respective regions, because the paying guests fail.