After promising early dumps of snow in some areas of Europe this autumn, the pattern of recent years resumed, and rain and sleet took over.
None of which is good news for the Alps, the most popular ski destination in the world, which has a skiing industry worth $30bn (£23.8bn) a year.
The most recent scientific report has added to fears that the industry faces an existential threat.
Published in the journal Nature Climate Change this year, the study warned that if the world heated up by 2C above pre-industrial temperatures, 53% of the 28 European resorts examined would be at very high risk for scarce snow supply. At 4C of heating, 98% of the resorts would be at very high risk of scarce snow cover.
Another study published in Nature Climate Change revealed an "unprecedented" decline in snow cover in the Alps over the past 600 years, with the duration of the cover now 36 days shorter.
Some respond by holding on to the idea that skiing can survive if global temperatures are kept to the limits set by the Paris agreement, and if the industry adapts. But rumblings of discontent at the lack of action to ensure the survival of the sport by the International Ski Federation (FIS) broke out this year.
The FIS was previously at the centre of a climate row when in 2019 its then president Gian Franco Kasper revealed himself as a climate denier in an interview, arguing he would rather mingle with dictators than have to deal with environmentalists. He subsequently left and was replaced by Johan Eliasch. But that has not taken the heat off the federation.
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