Strategies used by French Alpine guides to adapt to the effects of climate change

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Abstract

The effects of climate change on high mountain environments are seriously affecting summer Alpine climbing. Summer mountaineering in the Alps has become progressively more dangerous and technically difficult in recent years and good periods for mountaineering tend to be unpredictable in summer and have shifted towards spring, autumn and even winter for some routes. In this context, this research paper ̶ based on a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews ̶ examines how French Alpine guides are affected by climate change and how they adapt accordingly. This study enabled us to identify 33 methods of adaptation which we grouped in 5 main strategies. Two categories of Alpine guides were distinguished. One seems to have difficulties in adapting to the effects of climate change while the other seems to face the challenge with greater ease. This difference depends on the activities which each Alpine guide chooses to practice. In summer, those guides who mainly practice traditional mountaineering are less adaptable than those who have diversified, offering activities which can be done outside the high mountain environment. Alpine guides have the possibility to adapt through the diversification of their activities. However, this implies a redefinition of their job that does not always correspond to their preferred vision of the profession.

Introduction

Many studies have discussed the possible consequences of climate change on nature-based tourism and outdoor recreation. Most of these have concentrated on skiing and the behavioral adaptation of skiers (Rutty et al., 2015) who are facing a significant decline in the amount of snow and the duration of the snow cover (Koenig & Abegg, 2010; Rixen et al., 2011; Scott, 2011; Scott & McBoyle, 2007). On the other hand, several studies have showed that climate change can have a positive effect on summer nature-based tourism, thanks to an increase in the number of sunny days in the European Alps (Pröbstl, Haider, Hägeli, & Rupf, 2011; Pröbstl-Haider, Haider, Wirth, & Beardmore, 2015; Serquet & Rebetz, 2011). In Canada, Jones and Scott (2006b) showed that climate change will cause an increase in the number of visits to national parks from 10 to 40% by the end of the 21st century, due to an increase in daily maximum temperatures. Moreover, Wall et al. (1986) predicted that the camping season in eight of Ontario's Provincial Parks would increase by 40 days by 2050. However, such findings are not relevant for all outdoor recreation activities, especially those which take place in high mountain environments, such as mountaineering.

Areas at high altitudes are being strongly modified by climate change. In the Alps, the total surface area of glaciers decreased by half between 1900 and 2012, and there has been a considerable acceleration of this phenomenon since the 1990s (Gardent, Rabatel, Dedieu, & Deline, 2014; Huss, 2012; Vincent et al., 2017). Concurrently, periglacial environments (cf.: French Hugh, 2013) in the Alps, which are mainly characterized by frost-action and permafrost (lithosphere materials that remain at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive years) are tending to warm up and degrade (Haeberli & Gruber, 2009) resulting in an increase in the frequency and volume of rockfalls (Harris et al., 2001, 2009; Ravanel & Deline, 2011; Ravanel, Deline, Lambiel, & Vincent, 2013, 2017).

Thus, conditions for summer mountaineering in the Alps tend to deteriorate year by year. This leads to an increase in the danger and technical difficulty of routes (Behm, Raffeiner, & Schöner, 2006; Pröbstl-Haider et al., 2015; Temme, 2015; Ritter, Fiebig, & Muhar, 2011; Purdie, Gomez, & Espiner, 2015; Mourey & Ravanel, 2017) due to a growing number of detrimental geomorphological processes. As a result, good periods for mountaineering tend to be more unpredictable in summer and have shifted towards spring, autumn and even winter for some routes. As such, high mountain activities do not benefit from the positive effects of climate change on summer nature-based tourism. In this work, risk and danger are differentiated in the sense of Luhmann (1991, p. 256), risk being the way an individual comprehends and manages exposure to dangers, the latter being inherent to an activity and the environment in which it takes place (eg. rock falls or avalanches).

Some previous studies have examined the evolution of mountaineering routes in summer (Mourey, Marcuzzi, Ravanel, & Pallandre, 2019; Purdie & Kerr, 2018; Temme, 2015), but almost no studies have investigated how mountaineers are affected by those modifications and how they have adapted, except for example Behm et al. (2006) that questions how mountain professionals (Alpine guides, mountain leaders and ski instructors) are adapting to climate change effects in Austria. Our article focuses on French Alpine guides, well-regarded mountaineering professionals. Its purpose is to examine how they are affected by the evolution of high mountain routes, and what methods they use to adapt. Other social, economic and cultural issues affecting alpines guides in their adaptation, but not climate related, will also be discussed. Alpine guides have been the subject of many studies in various disciplines (Caille, 2002; Ferclay & Radiguet de la Bastaie, 2015; Martinoia, 2012, 2015; Mennesson & Galissaire, 2004; Wozniak, 2011). Specifically, social sciences studies have examined the socio-cultural and economic evolution of this profession and the reasons behind it (Bourdeau, 1991). However, the evolution of the high mountain environment due to climate change as a possible factor in the evolution of the Alpine guide profession has not yet been studied in detail.

The objective of this work is to study the connections between the way in which Alpine guides organize their professional activity and how they adapt to the effects of climate change. It is based on a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. Our hypothesis is that Alpine guides adapt to climate change differently depending on how they organize their professional activities (seasonality, activities practiced etc.). Moreover, thanks to a better vulnerability and adaptability assessment, this study should help guides and especially their representative bodies (such as the French National Union of Mountain Guides - SNGM) to support and lead guides in their adaptation to climate change.

Section snippets

Methodology

This study combines a quantitative method based on a survey questionnaire with a qualitative method based on semi-structured interviews.

Sample characteristics

230 Alpine guides responded to the questionnaire survey, out of the 1332 contacted. The sample representativeness of the base population has been assessed, running chi-square goodness of fit tests (Laurencelle, 2005), using data of the base-population provided by the SNGM, and considering the location (department of residency) and the seniority of Alpines guides. Those two variables are considered in this study as crucial to the perception and adaptation to climate change. To run the chi-square

French Alpine guides as tourism stakeholders who are very aware of climate change

Many studies have examined the impacts of climate change on mountain outdoor recreation and tourism (e.g. Hewer & Gough, 2017). According to Bourdeau (2009), mountain tourism is under stress because of climate and geo-cultural changes.

Our work confirms studies which have focused on high altitude and latitude activities such as those conducted by Behm et al. (2006), Bourdeau (2014), Temme (2015), Purdie et al. (2015) or Pröbstl-Haider, Dabrowska, and Haider (2016), which conclude that climate

Conclusions and perspectives

The evolution of high mountain environments due to climate change has had an impact on the way in which Alpine guides work, and so guides have had to adapt and change the way they operate. This study identified 33 adaptation methods, which can be grouped into 5 main strategic categories. Half of the respondents consider these changes as being difficult to implement. However, the difficulty depends on the activities Alpine guides choose to offer to their clients. In summer, those who mainly

Author contributions section

Jacques Mourey: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing original draft, Clémence Perrin-Malterre: Resources, Formal Analysis, Validation, Writing and reviewing, Ludovic Ravanel: Funding acquisition, Validation, Writing and reviewing, Supervision.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the SNGM for supporting this study and making their data available, and M. Sall for his help on the methodological approach. This study was funded by the EU ALCOTRA AdaPT Mont Blanc project.

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