Correlations between Climatic Conditions and the Development of Winter Tourism in the Oriental Carpathians. Case Study: Harghita Mountains
A.Tişcovschi, Gabriela Manea, M.MARIN
ABSTRACT. – The suitability of weather conditions for winter tourism development in the Eastern Carpathians. Case Study: Harghita Mountains. In the context of the ongoing global and regional climate change debates, the present study intends to analyze the impact these changes have on winter tourism development in the Harghita Mountains. With a maximum altitude of 2545 m, a complex structure of the underlying surface responsible fo r local climatic particularities, as well as for a wide range of complex and elementary topoclimates, the Romanian alpine zone has a moderate potential for the development of winter sports. Our objectives consist of making correlations between annual average temperatures and the average thickness of snow, between the years 1961 and 2000, in three resorts (Băile Tuşnad, Băile Harghita and Homorod). In certain cases, the ski slopes’ locations were not correlated with site-specific topoclimate conditions - in such a situation, equally affected are both the users and the owners of the establishment and last but not least, the natural ecosystems they overlap. The study aims to draw attention to development opportunities for winter tourism in the Harghita Mountains area, located west of the Eastern Carpathians. At present, the Harghita Mountains are mainly exploited locally, despite having important winter sports-related assets. From November to April, in Băile Harghita, Băile Tuşnad and Băile Homorod, located in the south-east and south-west of this mountainous area, there is a consistent snow cover on numerous slopes of various inclinations and orientations. The methods that were used in this study aim to determine the average dates of occurrence of the first and last layers of snow and therefore the average annual snow cover interval in the study area. The results show that there is untapped natural potential related to the average and maximum levels of snow thickness and to the number of days with snow-covered ground, especially in Harghita.
Keywords: climate, Harghita Mountains, evolution trend, snow cover.