Too much warmth, too little snow. Four exponents take a position on the future of alpine racing – the opinions differ diametrically.
Is it all winter or what? The snow band in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was enough for two men’s Super-G, but now it is too warm and too risky.
Oryk Haist / Imago
The Ski World Cup is almost at a standstill – five races were scheduled for this weekend, only one will take place, the men’s slalom in Chamonix on Sunday. But the two men’s downhill runs in Chamonix: canceled because temperatures were too high and the snow conditions were too poor for a speed discipline. The downhill and women’s Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: canceled – too warm and too risky.
Women’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) cancelled.
This is to inform that due to the high temperatures and therefore unfavourable snow conditions the scheduled women’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup races on 3rd-4th February 2024 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen… pic.twitter.com/Q3ISRLn3y0— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) January 29, 2024
At the beginning of the season there had already been various cancellations, in Zermatt, due to too much wind; or in Beaver Creek, because of wind and snow and weather. It was the familiar moods. But it is remarkable that the World Cup organizers already have the program melting away in their hands in the supposedly classic winter period at the end of January and beginning of February.
Is this weekend a harbinger of things to come as the climate continues to get warmer and warmer? Are winter sports as we have known them for years now coming to an end? Is the World Cup circus approaching its final performances?
Four exponents of skiing comment.
Urs Näpflin, OK President Lauberhorn Race: “In the long term, I’m very worried about the Ski World Cup.”
“As the Lauberhorn organizer, we are virtually independent of snowfall; the races need artificial snow either way. Natural snow has a crystalline grain that is difficult to compact – that’s why you can hardly create a slope that meets World Cup requirements with natural snow. We need sufficiently low temperatures for around two weeks to make snow on the slopes. The rule of thumb says: If the water is 4 degrees Celsius, it needs an outside temperature of minus 6 degrees. In recent years we have never had a problem finishing until two weeks before the races.
Little natural snow is nothing new for us. Before we built the snowmaking system in 1996, we had experienced repeated rejections. The facility was a requirement of the World Ski Federation FIS, according to the motto: “You provide snowmaking – or the World Cup is gone.”
I don’t just say: ‘It’s okay’, no, what is said about global warming are not conspiracy theories. In the long term, I’m very worried about the Ski World Cup. But if it happens that the temperatures hardly fall below 0 degrees for weeks, the lack of World Cup races in the mountain regions is the smallest problem. Things quickly go into other dimensions because almost everything depends on snow, restaurants, mountain railways, many jobs associated with it. And if you look at our ski area today, at the beginning of February: without artificial snow, it would hardly be possible to ski, even for tourists.
In the global context, we World Cup organizers can only contribute a fraction to stopping developments – and yet we should do as much as possible. What we strive for: that the use of public transport is included in the ticket price. Every contribution is important. Seen this way, it is difficult for me to understand that sustainability is talked about everywhere in the ski circus – but riders fly to South America for training, and the World Cup calendar takes them to North America twice for the races. It takes not only sustainable thinking, but also sustainable action.”
Osi Inglin, Head of Competition Organization Coordination at Swiss Ski: “Many TV viewers today are already seniors”
“In the medium term, i.e. over the next ten years, the World Cup will probably be able to be held in a similar framework to today. However, this especially applies to slalom and giant slalom, because the comparatively short slopes can be well prepared with even more effort than today. There are certainly technical possibilities that we can use better, in the production of snow, with snow farming or in the way we treat the snow on the slopes.
I already see more problems with the speed disciplines because the slopes are longer and the effort required to prepare them for racing will eventually become too great. There are likely to be more cases like now in Chamonix or Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where races have to be canceled at the end of January. Statistically we are now in the coldest time of the year, but you can no longer rely on these statistics. At some point you will have to ask yourself whether traditional organizers like Garmisch still have their place in the calendar.
Alternatives are constantly being discussed, such as moving the races to higher locations or moving the calendar to March and April. I’m skeptical about that. If we go higher into the mountains, at some point we will be a purely TV sport, and then the question arises as to how long we can maintain the connection with the viewers. There is often more snow in spring, but the quality is only partially good enough for World Cup races. Plus, I’m not convinced that people still want to watch ski races this time of year.
Climate change has also made conditions for summer and fall training increasingly precarious. For World Cup athletes, this can be compensated for with great effort, for example training in the southern hemispheres. However, I am of the opinion that there should be no more races for young talent up to U-16 level before Christmas. That would take the pressure off chasing snow in October and November.
In the long term, the situation is likely to worsen. Interest is likely to wane because many TV viewers are already seniors. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry out training and races due to changing conditions. I think that ski racing as we know it today will be on its deathbed in ten years.”
Diego Zuger, CEO Commercial at Swiss Ski: “I don’t think we’re hitting the wall with our heads”
«I am absolutely convinced that we will still have World Cup races in ten, twenty and thirty years. Swiss Ski is developing a vision of ‘Snow Sports 2050′, in which we are exploring the question of how we will practice our sport in the future, given changed climatic and socio-economic conditions. We are working with climate experts and we will have to adapt, that much seems clear, but even in the worst scenarios there will still be enough snow, even natural snow.
It will definitely be a question of altitude, but I cannot say how much the 2050 World Cup races in Adelboden and Wengen, with finish areas at around 1300 meters above sea level, will be affected. Technological progress will help us; snowmaking systems will become more temperature-independent and more energy efficient. The biggest challenges will lie primarily in lower regions, in smaller ski areas – and we will have to find answers to how we don’t lose people from these areas.
At the top level we will certainly deal with training planning. On the one hand: What is the relationship between traveling to South America? On the other hand, we don’t know how glacier training in Saas-Fee and Zermatt will work in twenty years. I don’t think we’re hitting our heads if we do everything we can to keep the World Cup alive. Top-class sport generally involves a lot of effort, winter and skiing even more so because it takes place outside. That’s why I’m not a supporter of indoor World Cup races – no, the fact that we’re exposed to nature is what matters.
There will always be cancellations, and I don’t expect that everything can be planned down to the last detail. What we have to learn from this weekend without speed races is that, for example, we have places ready that maintain fixed training routes and are able to optimize the slopes quickly and with little effort for racing.
Marc Brille, CEO of Stöckli Swiss Sports: “I can imagine Stöckli without racing.”
«I’m not afraid that skiing will no longer exist in twenty or thirty years. 80 percent of all ski days in the world take place in ski areas above 1,400 or 1,500 meters above sea level. These are not at risk in the next thirty years. Skiing will certainly become more expensive, but Stöckli is well positioned. Skiers who don’t ski every now and then, but for whom skiing is a large part of their leisure time, buy in the premium range. That’s why we don’t suffer when the overall market declines.
Racing is important for Stöckli in two ways: Externally, because you can generate high visibility when the races take place. The brand value has probably increased by ten million thanks to Marco Odermatt. But it also has great importance internally. When you see how races are decided by hundredths of a second and how important the material is for this, it is worth its weight in gold for the motivation of the employees.
If skiing gets into so much trouble that we at Stöckli fall below 60,000 pairs per year again, we would have to adapt our racing commitment to the new economic circumstances. We have to make money to survive. If racing becomes more expensive and there is too little return on investment, we would have to ask ourselves whether we still want to be involved in racing. I can imagine Stöckli without racing, even if that would be a shame. But the question doesn’t arise just because there are a few warmer days in February. And we’re still growing: we produce almost three times as many skis as we did ten years ago.
But that doesn’t mean that our racing commitment grows, for example that we sign more athletes. We want to spend as little as possible on racing, but still within reasonable limits. I would like to have podium riders under contract again, but we can’t afford it.
As a private person, I would say: The World Cup should start later. As Stöckli CEO and for the sports industry, it is important that pictures go around the world in October that make you want to ski.
The material allows us to adapt to the changing conditions on the slopes. We already have around 13 different giant slalom set-ups because the slope looks different for the starter in the first run and for the last in the second run. We also have skis so wide and light that you could almost water ski with them. We can adapt – but when fair conditions are no longer present and the first and the 30th have completely different conditions, it’s better to stop.”