The snowfall On the Italian mountains, from the Alps to the Apennines, they are increasingly rare. This is testified by the growing number of abandoned ski systems and the spread of artificial snow basins to compensate for the lack of natural snow.
Currently, in Italy there are 265 disused ski structures, a number that is more than doubled compared to 2020, when there were 132. The regions most affected by this trend are Piedmont (76 closed plants), Lombardy (33), Abruzzo (31) and Veneto (30).
At the same time, the artificial basins used for the production of snow are multiply. According to the satellite images, 165 were identified in Italy, occupying a surface of almost 2 million square meters. Trentino-Alto Adige is the region with the largest number of basins (60), followed by Lombardy and Piedmont, both with 23.
To trace this picture is Legambiente in the new snow dossier 2025 – Is a new mountain possible?, With the updated census of the plants related to the skis between closed, half -seized and those that struggle to remain open, a focus on the winter Olympics and an analysis on the phenomenon of the havorourism and luxury tourism.
System of shamealso chosen for the cover of this year’s Nevedivere Report, It is the canal of Pian dei Torchconi, on the north side of the Marmolada, the queen of the Dolomites. Closed in 2019, it was overwhelmed in December 2020 by an avalanche that also involved the nearby refuge, a place where its manager, in 2020 together with the environmental associations, had launched a petition aimed at removing all the tracks of the nearby disused plants.
To date, however, at the altitude remains an abandoned and gutted structure, with a heavy environmental and landscape impact in a mountain area that is UNESCO heritage.
The picture of the whole peninsula
If you widen the other systems scattered on the peninsula, the situation is not the best: 112 are temporarily closed structures, while 128 are a “little open, a little closed”.
The plants subjected to “therapeutic foliations”, distributed in 36 areas, and more than doubled compared to 2020 when 103 had been surveyed, the highest number in Lombardy (59), Abruzzo (47), Emilia-Romagna (34), rise to 218. Instead, the number of dismantled and reused systems, compared to the previous year, is unchanged, reaching 31; The dilapidated buildings surveyed to 80 and there are 15 stories of ugly projects reported in the report.
The Legambiente dossier then widens his gaze also on the French and Swiss Alps through the analysis of Mountain Wilderness France data. In April 2024 101 systems abandoned in 56 sites distributed on French mountain ranges were registered, while in Switzerland there have been abandoned over 55 ski lifts and cable cars for years. A sign that winter tourism is also in crisis across the Alps.
Climatic crisis
According to what emerges from the dossier, the forecasts for the next few years indicate significantly warmer winters than today: the snowfall, therefore, will be reduced further. The data of the Cima Foundation clearly illustrate the serious snowfall recorded as of February 13, 2025 compared to historical averages.
On Alps In the band between 1000 and 2000 meters, the reduction of the innumence is 71% and even 94% on the Apennines. At higher altitudes, between 2000 and 3000 meters, the deficit stands at 43% on the Alps and 78% on the Apennines, highlighting a critical situation especially along the Apennine ridge. Data that highlight the difficulties to which the ski resorts are encountered which, due to the climatic crisis, have increasingly uncertain development prospects.
What is happening at high altitude is only the tip of an iceberg – comments Stefano Ciafani, national president of Legambiente – the climatic crisis is advancing at worrying rhythms, the merger of glaciers on the one hand, the decrease in snowfalls, but also the closure of several plants together with those who often struggle to remain open, on the other, are faces of the same medal on which an important reflection must be opened that must be accompanied by concrete interventions. The practice of artificial inquiry, which involves consistent consumption of water and energy, continues to feed, without instead putting a clear strategy of adaptation and mitigation to the climatic crisis. It is from here that you have to start, if you want to get to better management of the territory.
Artificial snow
In recent years, artificial snow plants have become a constant and crucial expense for the survival of the areas. Among the symbolic examples mentioned by Legambiente in the report are Veneto, Piedmont and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
On the other hand, i costs of the white week. A family of three, according to the latest estimates, this year will spend on average 186 euros per day only to access the ski lifts and the slopes. According to Federturismo, the cost of hotel (+5.1%), of ski schools (+6.9%), catering services (+8.1%) are increasing. In summary, for a white week, an adult spends on average 1,453 euros, while a family unit consisting of two parents and a child faces an expense of around 3,720 euros.
And the 2026 Olympics?
The report then dedicates an updated focus on Milan-Cortina 2026 winter Olympics. A year after the sports event, where sustainability remains a distant goal, the difficulties related to pharaonic works, delays and costs to the stars continue. Games with a budget of 1.5 billion euros, to date the costs have risen to 5.7 billion euros. Regarding the planned works, many risk not being completed among these also the variants of the Val Boite. The monitoring of the works by the associations of the Open Olympics network continues. Meanwhile, the unknown snow 2026 remains high.
Overurism and luxury tourism at altitude
From Cortina to the tops of Lavaredo, to get to Roccarasothe Overurism affects the Alps and Apennines to which the report dedicates an in -depth analysis accompanied by interviews with experts. Alpine destinations, in particular, are also experiencing the expansion of luxury tourism as is happening in Cortina. More and more reserved for an elite of rich, Cortina is becoming a “gentrification school, where you are extraneous in your land”.
The properties are not purchased by the Italians, there are foreign investors, today only a third of the hotels is managed by families of residents. The tourist offer becomes more expensive and expels Italian families, who cannot enjoy more than that valley, concludes Professor Alberto Lanzavecchia of the University of Padua.
Here you will find the complete report.
