Warm winter forcing ski resorts to produce artificial snow

ISTANBUL- Demirören News Agency

With temperatures above the seasonal norms and a lack of snowfall, ski resorts across the country are facing a low influx of tourists as the occupancy rate of hotels is dwindling compared to the previous seasons, while ski resorts are using artificial snow to keep the tracks open.

The unusual weather conditions and insufficient snowfall have caused artificial snow production to reach record levels in ski resorts before the semester break.

Every year, during the semester break, when millions of students take vacations, the country’s leading ski resorts welcome a considerable number of visitors.

However, this year, there is no early booking crisis or shortage of accommodation in the resorts due to the lack of snowfall and the temperatures above the seasonal norms.

Especially in the ski resorts of Uludağ in the northwestern province of Bursa, Erciyes in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri and Kartalkaya in the northern province of Bolu, artificial snow production reached a record level to increase the snow depth.

The occupancy rates in hotels in Uludağ are at extremely low levels, stated Haluk Beceren, the former head of a local hotel owners association (GÜMTOB).

Beceren also underlined that contrary to popular belief, artificial snow machines could not solve the problem.

“Everyone is talking about artificial snow machines. We also have machines at the moment, but we cannot start them as the air temperature is too high. In order to operate these machines, the temperature should be at least minus 5 degrees, and the relative humidity should be minus 30,” Beceren explained.

“Semester break was the main source of income of our industry. If the weather continues to be like this, we can only cover our personnel expenses,” he stated.

At the Kartalkaya Ski Resort, which lies at an altitude of 2,200 meters, only eight of the 25 ski tracks could be opened due to insufficient snowfall.

“The occupancy rate of the hotels is around 20 percent. Kartalkaya is having its worst season of the last 42 years. For the past 42 years, I have been in Kartalkaya, and I have never experienced such a bad season,” said Halit Ergül, the head of the local hotel owners’ union in the Black Sea Region.

Explaining that they constantly follow the weather forecast reports, Ergül said, “it snows every year, close to New Year’s Eve or a few days later, but this time it was the worst.”

On the other hand, Palandöken Ski Center in the eastern province of Erzurum is having a good season compared to other ski centers.

Selim Bağrıyanık, the head of Palandöken Ski Center, stated that the occupancy rates at the hotel are high, adding that as they could not get the desired snowfall this winter, they used last year’s snow with the snow storage method.

“Some 85 percent of snow in the tracks in Palandöken and Konaklı is artificial. Though it did not snow at the desired rates this winter, we were prepared. We stored 50,000 cubic meters from last year’s snow and spread it on the tracks,” Selim explained.

Stating that teams coming to training from abroad are also in the region, Bağrıyanık noted that the occupancy rate in Palandöken reached 90 percent.

In Erciyes Ski Center, artificial snow machines are used intensively to increase the snow thickness in the region.

“We have been producing snow with artificial snowmaking infrastructure since mid-December. We have produced 500,000 cubic meters of snow so far,” stated Murat Cahid Cıngı, the chair of Erciyes A.Ş.

“We start to produce snow at night and continue until morning. That’s why our cost has also increased by 25 percent. We are currently working at half capacity in Erciyes. The news that it’s not snowing creates a bad image for us,” Cıngı explained.