Will the intervention of Covid-19 inadvertently prevent environmental encroachment, or merely represent a stay of execution?

In the immediate term Austria's delayed ski season is due to begin on Christmas Eve or January 7th, depending on the resort. Where the Soelden ski area in the Oetztal aims to reopen for business in 12 days' time, further up the valley in Obergurgl and Vent, the slopes expect to receive guests after many…

Glacier protection must not be sacrificed during uncertain times for the winter-sports industry

Aside from my general feelings on the damage that winter sports can inflict upon alpine regions, it has always been the use of glaciers for skiing and snowboarding which has drawn the majority of my ire. It is understandable how the leviathan snow sports industry has managed to convert glaciers in the minds of Austrians…

Tirol: Will Austria stand up for its environment and against Climate Change by refusing the Oetztal & Pitztal ski area merger?

Whilst not yet amounting to a charm offensive those 'pro' the development of a link between the Pitz and Oetz valleys in the Austrian Tirol have begun to counter the many arguments against the scheme, whose proponents have up to this point had exclusive use of the floor. The Pitztal has long been seen as…

Proposed Oetztal-Pitztal link a potential benchmark for future development in the Austrian Alps

Controversy caused by the expansion of Austrian ski resorts is nothing new. The Alpine arms race continues unabashed, consisting of resorts intra-competing with neighbouring towns and those in adjacent valleys and provinces. There surely though has to be a time, which could already be upon us, when seeking an edge over the competition could reduce…

Maribor Airport facing its very own China Syndrome

The potential loss of large amounts of farmland and tree cover abutting Maribor's airport flies in the face of an 'environment first' credo that Slovenia has become synonymous with, and of which it is rightly proud. Representing something of a reality check of what value is placed on prime agricultural and arboriculture that serves not…

Environmental concerns blunt ambitions to link the Tirol’s St. Anton and Kappl

Austria's cableway industry wields a significant amount of power in a country so heavily reliant upon the revenue generated by the purchasing of ski and lift passes. In recent years there has increasingly been an unassailable attitude by those proposing new cable cars, extensions to existing infrastructure, and the upgrading of what is already in…

Slovenia: Bovec seeks European Union stimulus for cross-border developments on Mount Kanin

Much has changed for the Bovec region of northwestern Slovenia since the cessation of operations in January 2013 of its iconic and eponymous Kanin cableway, precipitated by a near-catastrophic fall to earth of several of its carriages. The reason to this day for the collapse has never been ascertained, or at least been made public.…