We tried to piece it together. Considering the iconic orange bellies and the location, these creatures are most likely Alpine Newts, although the species are classified as of Least Concern, populations are still decreasing according to the IUCN Red List. Habitat destruction is one of the main factors, making ski resorts a part of that equation.

But how were the newts ending up on the ski slopes in the first place? We guess that the water used for artificial snow had probably attracted them to breed, thinking it was a natural pond. Since the lake has no fish, newt populations rise high and now, with spring calling, they were waking up and migrating back to land. But instead of forest floors, they found themselves crossing a frozen, unnaturally managed landscape, and getting crushed, frozen, or stranded.

Newts were crossing the band of winter to get to the other side, just as it happens in an awakening spring landscape. But when skiers went over them, even if they survived, they were covered in snow and stuck. By the end of every day, the groomers come to plow the slopes, fatal for any newt that didn’t make it out.

Most people zoomed by without even noticing, hard to tell a newt apart from a branch at skiing speeds. Some probably went right over them. We couldn’t just keep climbing. We took off our skis and started picking through the snow, moving the few live ones we found to safety. We gathered the dead ones into a pile: a quiet memorial at the side of the slope.

An older man passed us and shook his head. “I’ve been coming here 40 years“, he said. “Never seen anything like this“. And then he kept climbing.

Figure 2: Newts found on the snow. Photo by authors, Patscherkofel, Innsbruck, 2025.

It was one of those moments when the scale of it all just hits you. Climate change isn’t coming…it’s already here. And we’re still trying to plaster over the seasons with machines and artificial snow, pretending things are normal. Extending the season to ensure resort stability and maximise profit.

Finally, the case of the Alpine Newts is just a single observation here; animal and plant species, large and small, suffer from the ski resort. The habitat of Chamois and Marmots, for example, are already limited to high alpine ‘islands’, and ski resorts reduce it even more. It is not solely the artificial snow or the act of skiing that is the problem; it is the high usage of the slopes that makes it something different from a natural snowfield.

I’m not saying we need to close every ski resort. But we can’t keep pushing nature to the side like this. A little awareness could go a long way. If people knew Alpine Newts migrate when it gets warm, maybe resorts could pause snowplowing for a few critical days, or even close the lower part of the resort completely, as it is transferring into a spring landscape. Maybe there could be signs, monitoring, and small changes that make a difference. Because right now, the price of a few extra days on the slopes looks a lot like a pile of tiny orange bellies, lost in the snow.

Cover image: A zoom on the newts found on the ski slopes in Patscherkofel, Innsbruck. Photo by authors, 2025.