Swiss Lift Co's - Positive Winter So Far

The second half of January was cool and created good conditions for winter sports, while it was cloudy and foggy for a long time in the lowlands. Sunshine beckoned in the mountains. The current winter season up to the end of January is 6% lower for first-time admissions than the five-year average. Compared to the extraordinarily positive previous year, however, first-time admissions are 17% behind. As a result, January was only able to partially compensate for the lack of snow in December.

The warm days of December continued in the first week of January. The weather conditions did not change until mid-January, with cold temperatures and snowfall in many places. The slow start reported at the beginning of January (-24% for first-time entries) has been made up for slightly (first-time entries: -17%). In particular, high alpine areas and those destinations that can guarantee an attractive offer thanks to technical snowmaking are benefiting from the course of the winter so far. Across Switzerland, however, sales remain 8% lower than in the extraordinarily good 2021/22 season.

Regional differences

In Graubünden (-8%) and Valais (-10%), the deficits are relatively moderate compared to the previous year, which is also due to the high-altitude ski areas, which were hardly affected by the warm temperatures.

Eastern Switzerland, the Vaud and Friborg Alps and the Arc jurassien were able to catch up somewhat on their comparatively low values ​​from the warm start to the season. Central Switzerland is relatively constant, while in Ticino there were significantly more people using ski lifts and cable cars than in the extremely warm and snowless Ticino winter of 2021/22.

Comparison with the 5-year average

For Switzerland as a whole, the change compared to the five-year average, which is more meaningful in the long term, is -6% for first-time entrants and 4% for turnover. In the regions, too, the current start to the season is mixed to positive compared to the average of the five previous years. Valais (+10% in first-time entries and +13% in turnover) and Graubünden (+2% and +12% respectively) show clearly positive values, while the regions of Central Switzerland, the Vaud and Friborg Alps, the Bernese Oberland, the Eastern Switzerland, Ticino and the Arc jurassien are below the 5-year average. In view of the positive demand from guests, most destinations are still looking forward to the (some still upcoming) sports holiday weeks with confidence.