Climate change seems very obvious to those who live, train and compete in the snow.
Changing weather patterns are reconfiguring ski racing in gritty, noticeable ways, drawing stark contrasts to how things were a decade ago. The World Cup Ski racing circuit racers have to adapt to shrinking glaciers, inadequate snow cover and violent storms.
Federica Brignone, an Italian Olympic bronze medalist in giant slalom at PyeongChang pointed towards her suitcase on asking how she thinks climate change has changed skiing. She mentioned that she packs a wide variety of clothing to be prepared for the increasingly fluctuating weather.
As per the experts, Global warming is impacting winter sports in two major areas, one is shrinking season and the other greater variability in weather conditions. The inconsistent weather patterns are leading to periods of bitter cold and snow.
The rapid deterioration of the glaciers which sustain early season training is forcing today’s coaches and racers to reassess as to how they can prepare for annual circuit. To this, World Cup racer Resi Stiegler mentioned that he has been going to glaciers for 20 years to train. Nowadays, skiing is done in T-shirts.
Even the tallest peak in the Alps isn’t immune to warming temperatures. The Mer de Glacier, which descends from Mont Blanc near Chamonix in France is melting at roughly 40 metres a year.
Image Credit: Alpine Passion
Please Note: Any information picked from here must be attributed to skymetweather.com