Understanding the approaches taken by private ski clubs in Southern Ontario to address climate change and sustainability

The inter-annual weather variation associated with climate change has emerged as a major risk to the ski tourism industry, adversely impacting season length, snow quality, operating and investment costs, visitation, and neighboring markets. Existing research has focused principally on the overall impacts of climate change on the supply and demand of public ski areas operating on a for-profit basis. This study focuses instead on a niche but vital component of the ski industry—private ski clubs in Southern Ontario. This project is guided by the research questions: what are the approaches taken by Southern Ontario private ski clubs to address sustainability and climate change, and how do various stakeholders and operating structures shape these approaches? To answer these questions, we conducted semi-structured interviews with representatives from eight private ski clubs in Southern Ontario. After coding transcripts of the interviews, we identified the following major themes for discussion: resource efficiency, snowmaking, diversification, environmental management, waste management, business model, stakeholder influence and education. We found that private ski clubs are aware of the challenges they face and are making investments to better adapt their operations to the changing realities of climate change. We also found that there are distinct structural differences from public ski resorts that influence how private clubs approach sustainability, including their revenue model, membership base, and inability to scale. Based on our assessment, we recommend that private ski clubs begin to formally assess their climate resiliency on a regular basis. This study provides one of the first considerations of the adaptation and mitigation strategies pursued by private ski clubs confronting climate change in Canada's winter tourism industry. Like their commercial counterparts, private ski clubs in Southern Ontario are subject to decreasing and unreliable snowfall, more variable winter climate conditions, increasing snowmaking requirements, and shortened ski seasons. While these impacts have important management implications, private ski clubs may benefit from their unique pricing structure and loyal membership base. Private ski club managers should look for ways to leverage their predictable revenue flows from annual membership fees for investment in resource efficiency, snowmaking capacity, recreational diversification, environmental management, and outreach. Based on this study, we recommend that clubs begin formally assessing their climate resiliency every 3–5 years to better understand how they can adapt their operations to changing circumstances.