Quirin Schiermeier,MunichAs summer comes to a close and millions ofskiers eagerly prepare for winter, a heatedargument has broken out over plans tobuild new ski resorts high in the Alps.

The disagreement has been sparked by aninitiative to open the second largest glacier in the eastern Alps — the pristine Gepatschglacier in Tyrol,Austria — to skiers.

Climate change is causing snow lines tocreep farther up many mountains, leavingsome small ski resorts with access to snow foronly a very short time. In response, many skicentres are looking to expand into glacialareas at higher altitudes.

But ski-lift stations, restaurants and pistevehicles produce tonnes of harmful waste,grease, lubricant oils and salts, says PeterHasslacher, a development planner and con-servation expert with the Austrian AlpineClub in Innsbruck. When placed on glaciers,such facilities soon pollute the surroundingsoil and water.

Nevertheless, a recent change in Tyrol’senvironmental law permits the constructionof ski lifts in high regions — even in areasthat form part of a European network ofprotected natural landscapes.

Environmentalists have expressed horrorat the Gepatsch expansion plan, which theysay could ruin one of Europe’s last wilder-nesses. If it goes through, they say, it will open the floodgates for similar projects inother parts of the Alps. “Driving skiers higher and higher is the worst strategy if youwant ecologically sound winter tourism,”Hasslacher says.

But the tourist industry is facing a difficultfuture. According to a recent study by the

United Nations Environment Programme,about half of Switzerland’s skiing resorts arelikely to suffer from a lack of snow in the nearfuture.Within a few decades,the losses to Swisstourism could reach US$1.6 billion per year,says the UN report Climate Change and WinterSports: Environmental and Economic Threats.

Leisure companies, such as the Frenchmarket leader Compagnie des Alpes, arealready focusing investment on high Alpineregions, says Michel Revaz of the Interna-tional Commission for the Protection of theAlps (CIPRA), a non-governmental conser-vation group based in Liechtenstein. Hugeskiing areas, such as those around Zermattand Saas Fee in Switzerland, are promising agood return on capital,he says.

Environmentalists agree that Alpine com-munities need to find a way to address theirpotential losses from climate change.But theywould rather they market forms of tourismthat have less of an effect on wilderness areas— such as developing conference facilities, orproviding support for hiking or sledding inpatchy areas of snow at lower altitudes.

“High-altitude skiing is a ruinous wasteof energy and natural resources,” saysAndreas Götz,CIPRA’s director.“Clinging toit shows a lack of imagination, and sets a badexample for emerging skiing tourism inplaces such as China and Russia.”

The Alpine Convention, an agreementsigned by Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzer-land, Liechtenstein, Germany and France,does not expressly disallow new high-alti-tude ski areas. But ministers of the sevencountries bordering on the Alps will discusspossible changes to these regulations at ameeting in Bavaria in November. ■

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NATURE | VOL 431 | 16 SEPTEMBER 2004 | www.nature.com/nature 235

Karoline Schwarzberg,MunichLife in the freezer is about to become areality for thousands of ancient books in eastern Germany.

The books form part of the DuchessAnna Amalia Library in Weimar, one ofEurope’s most valuable collections, whichwas badly damaged by fire on 2 September.

Some 30,000 of the million volumes inthe library’s collection were destroyed inthe blaze. And at least 40,000 burnt andwater-logged books and manuscriptsnow need to be restored.

The damaged books are being taken tothe Centre for Book Conservation inLeipzig, where they will be stored below�22 �C to keep mould and bacteria atbay. They will then be freeze-dried before restoration begins. The federalgovernment has pledged €4 million(US$5 million) to kick-start the effort,and private donations are already coming in to help complete it.

“Fortunately, the books were packed

very close together, so the main damagehas been to the edges of the pages and on the book covers,” says Robert Fuchs,a conservator at the University of AppliedSciences in Cologne.

“The fire was a tragedy for the worldof German literature,” says MartinStrebel, a restorer who works for theAbbey Library in St Gallen, Switzerland.But he adds that many tools are availableto repair the damaged books.

Burnt page edges can be replaced withnew paper, for example. And if wholepages look set to crumble, the two sidescan be separated and stabilized by a sheet of paper placed in the middle.But only a few experts can carry out this procedure, which is expensiveand time-consuming.

Weimar was home to some ofGermany’s most famous writers,including Nietzsche and Goethe. Thelibrary, created in 1761, is listed as a World Heritage Site. ■

Ecologists mount protest overlofty plans for Alpine ski runs

Burnt books get cold shoulder inrestoration effort

Slippery slope: climate change is driving ski resorts to head for higher altitudes in search of snow.

Out cold: burnt books from the Anna AmaliaLibrary will be frozen for safe-keeping.

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