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This has an impact on winter sports and tourism, as Claudia Riedl, meteorologist at Geosphere Austria, made clear on Wednesday: “The train has left for ski areas below 1,300 meters.” Even if the climate goals are met and further climate protection measures are taken, the expert expects that there will no longer be tourist winter sports operations in the previous form in these regions from 2050, as she made clear in an online press conference by the platform for a climate-neutral Salzburg made. “The measures for technical snowmaking will then simply be so challenging that it is no longer economically viable,” said Riedl. From their point of view, continuous winter seasons with snow-sure months and sufficiently low temperatures, which are necessary for the production and maintenance of artificial snow, are passable in the foreseeable future. “This mainly affects ski areas close to the city, which can be reached quickly by the population,” explained the meteorologist.
Focus increasingly on short vacations
It can already be observed that, although overnight stays are increasing in winter tourism, short breaks are increasingly being used, which in total increases the number of arrivals and departures, as Moritz Nachtschatt, Managing Director of Protect Our Winters (POW), explained. It would therefore be all the more important to make ski areas accessible by public transport and to take climate policy measures in this area, Nachtschatt said: “A climate protection law is needed at state and federal level because it sets the framework conditions, for us privately, but also for the economy.” This is essential for fair competitive conditions and for securing the business location. Individual companies such as Snow Space Salzburg – the merger of the ski resorts of Flachau, Wagrain and St. Johann – have already “set a good example” in reducing energy consumption, Nachtschatt conceded: “But it is a sign of failure that the economy is partly continuing ahead and politics is lagging behind.”
“A third of the ski areas will not survive in 20 or 30 years,” said Alpine skier and climate activist Julian Schütter with conviction. As for professional sport, “we’re at a point where the glaciers in Europe are so badly formed that there aren’t any training opportunities in the summer.” Those who can afford it would switch to the southern hemisphere, others, especially the youngsters, “simply have to postpone their training and cannot prepare well for the season”. This reduces competitiveness and increases the risk of injury.
“The climate crisis is now and is already restricting my passion and my profession,” emphasized Schütter, who made his debut in the World Cup last season and finished in the points several times. The journeys to the training sessions are “too far”, the fact that the men’s World Cup made two stops in the USA in the 2022/23 season is “completely unnecessary and counterproductive”. The 25-year-old explained that he had produced twelve tons of CO2 equivalent this year, eleven tons of which were for air travel.
“FIS didn’t really show insight”
The speed specialist from Schladming recently made headlines by presenting the International Ski Federation (FIS) with an open letter signed by 140 athletes during the Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel. Among other things, it calls for all FIS events to be climate neutral by 2035 and for a sustainability strategy to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030. According to Schütter, he had “actually not received any feedback” so far: “The FIS didn’t really show any insight.” But the next FIS Congress will take place in a month and a half: “We do hope that the open letter, the commitment, will make a difference.”
It is clear to Schütter that the climate crisis and the associated mild winters will change the World Cup calendar in the future. In his opinion, it will no longer be possible to drive downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the medium term. The Kandahar run – it is considered one of the most demanding runs in the Alpine Ski World Cup, the start is at 1,690 meters and the finish at 720 meters – would be history. The fact that the Ski World Cup starts at the end of October is “not justifiable” for Schütter, as he affirmed: “It paints a wrong picture of the winter season.” In this respect, the speed races planned for mid-November in Zermatt/Cervinia took place “at the wrong time”: “They force training to start earlier, which in turn leads to more flights.”
Source: Nachrichten
