Jan Wesner Childs
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The Alpine World Cup ski season kicked off Saturday on a glacier in the Austrian Alps, historically a virtual lock to have snow this time of year.
But not anymore. The slopes on race day at the site in Soelden, near the Italian border about 30 miles south of Innsbruck, were surrounded by land barren or sparsely covered by snow. Race organizers had to truck in snow that was saved from last spring. They also used snow-making machines, which ran around the clock for two days leading up to the competition.
It’s not a situation likely to change anytime soon.
Alps Glaciers Melting At Record Speed
Glaciers in the region are melting at record pace and average temperatures in the Alps are rising at a rate nearly twice that of surrounding areas.
Overall, Europe has experienced some of its warmest winter temperatures on record in recent years.
Last year, World Cup races in late October in Zermatt, Switzerland, and Cervinia, Italy, were canceled due to lack of snow. The two ski areas sit along the famed Matterhorn.
Glaciers around Zermatt and throughout Switzerland have been hit especially hard, losing 4% of ice mass in summer of 2023 and 6% the year before, according to the Alpine Glacier Project.
“Before 2022 any loss in the region of 2% was deemed 'extreme,'” Neil Entwistle, a professor of river science and climate resilience at England's University of Salford, wrote in a blog post for the project. “Collectively in the last two years, 10% has gone.”
Climate Challenges For Ski Industry Continue
The reliance on manufactured snow, machinery and other methods to build and mold ski slopes in warmer weather has drawn the attention of scientists and activist groups alike, some who say the season should be pushed later to lessen the impacts to the environment.
A handful of protesters blocked the road to Soelden during the World Cup kickoff.
This year’s weather and climate challenges are just the latest for the World Cup and the ski industry in general. In January, hundreds of ski areas in France and other parts of Europe were closed because they didn’t have enough snow.
Last year, skiers including the United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin signed an open letter to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, urging more transparency in its future strategies to address climate change.
“It is so dear to us, winter is the most important thing in our sports,” Shiffrin told The Associated Press.
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Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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