Get in your turns while you can!

It looks pretty nice out my window right now, with a foot of fresh powder, but that’s not necessarily the overall trend. Experts are warning that Climate change threatens Europe’s ski trade. And recently, Aspen Skiing Company filed a “friend of the court brief” in the greenhouse gases case currently before the supreme court.

I talked to ASC’s attorney Ed Ramey, who wrote the brief. He told me that

“Over the last 15 years we have been experiencing increasing temperatures on the order of two to three plus degrees on an annual basis.”

Ramey says current climate models show that Aspen’s very existence as a ski destination is in jeopardy…

“Sometime between 2030 and 2100, we could be put in the position where the ski area is no longer economically viable – that doesn’t just mean Aspen….”

Ramey added that Aspen has already had to shoulder the cost of increased snowmaking because of an increase in the number of “frost-free” days.

The case before the court asks the EPA to regulate auto emissions that contribute to global warming. The EPA claims it does not have the authority to make such rules. Oral arguments were presented earlier this month, a decision is not expected for a month or more.