Little snow, and Emilia-Romagna focuses on grass skiing

Investment for facilities and grass slopes. This is where the descents (and races) on the meadows are already done.

BOLOGNA. – If climate change takes away the snow in the Apennines, all that remains is the grass. Which you can still ski on. The Emilia-Romagna Region is convinced of this, and has (also) taken this direction to support the tourism sector and mountain sports. In the 2023-2025 budget, an initial loan of 50,000 euros is envisaged to promote and support grass skiing. Resources that “will be provided in the coming weeks”, announced today the regional councilor for the Mountains, Igor Taruffi, responding in the Legislative Assembly to the question of the M5s councilor Silvia Piccinini.

IN SOME PROVINCES IT IS BECOMING A “SIGNIFICANT SEGMENT” , THAT’S WHERE

In some provinces, such as Parma, Reggio Emilia and Bologna, “various activities are already being prepared” for grass skiing, which is becoming “a significant segment”, underlines Taruffi, and is also important because “we need to deseasonalize the tourist offer”. For this reason, says the councilor, “I confirm the commitment of the Council” in this direction.
Piccinini is satisfied, according to whom grass skiing “plays a very important role not only on a sporting level, but also as an opportunity qualification and relaunch of the Apennine area”, given the “need to focus decisively on the diversification of the tourist offer also in light of the effects of climate change”. The 5 stars in the Region themselves had proposed the allocation of resources to support the sector. In Emilia-Romagna, the pentastellata recalls, “there are centers and slopes for grass skiing in operation, such as in Gaggio Montano in the Bolognese Apennines or in Schia, in the municipality of Tizzano Val Parma, which could be further strengthened”. International level competitions are scheduled in the Parma area, while the Bolognese mountains will host part of the Italian grass skiing championships.

M5S: INVESTING IN GRASS SKIING NECESSARY TO ‘ADAPT’ TOURISM

“The climate crisis we are experiencing has a clear impact on various economic sectors – underlines Piccinini – including that of the so-called white tourism of the Apennine areas of our region, whose economic fabric is also closely connected to snow tourism. But the snowfall is less and less consistent and temperatures are increasingly higher. For this reason it is necessary to face the consequences of the climate crisis in a structural way, rethinking the tourist offer of our Apennines direction of identifying sustainable solutions to deseasonalize tourism and allow the survival and development of mountain tourism in a profoundly changed climate”, concludes the M5s councilor.