Hotel rooms canceled, tickets refunded, contracts with catering companies must also be resolved: lack of snow and its consequences affect not only many World Cup organizers, but the entire World Cup organizers Winter sports sites Before Enormous economic challenges. But what do you do if white gold is missing?
“Even if you have enough money, you can’t influence the climate,” said Anna Kornhas of the dpa news agency. She is the press spokesperson for the Ski Jumping World Cup in Hinterzarten. The implementation of the competition planned for the end of January is – of course – questionable.
Elsewhere, the battle against climate change has long been lost. Alpine ski races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen have been cancelled. Rather than a winter wonderland, a gray-green mountainous landscape characterizes the image over Kandahar. The organization’s team leader, Martina Betz, admitted the cancellation was an economic disaster. “We have a big loss. However, the amount cannot be determined yet.”
A World Cup weekend like this is pumping money into various coffers. Restaurateurs, accommodation providers and retailers benefit from the thousands of ski lovers who make pilgrimages to smaller winter sports resorts such as Garmisch, Hinterzarten or Klingenthal. The associations benefit from television revenues. user.
It is difficult to quantify the economic damage threatened in the event of cancellation. The system is very ramified, and many sides participate in the World Cup. But one thing is clear: the damage will be massive.
Alpine skiing is hardly possible
Mild winters hit the Alps hard. An enormous amount of snow is required for the often kilometer long slopes. Races in Sölden, Zermatt, Lech, Beaver Creek, Gröden, Zagreb and Garmisch have been cancelled. In the Nordic combined events, Klingenthal and Schaux Nove have hit two of the six pitches so far. The athletes in Ruhpolding had to shudder for a long time last week.
The winter sports paradise is disappearingas shown by an international research team in a study published in 2022. Without a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, most of the former hosts of the Olympic Games will not be able to host the Games again in 2050.
“There are no more ski areas in Europe that guarantee guaranteed snow,” added Carmen de Jong, a professor of geography in Strasbourg. For her, ice skating means being able to skate any time between the first of December and the end of March. The area must not rely on artificial snow or snow that is transported to the competition site.
There are no longer any ski areas in Europe that are guaranteed snow.
Also part of the truth is that winter sports itself its negative contribution to Greenhouse gas emissions Implement. Even in high-level sports. The extensive travel calendar is especially important for alpine riders barbs. So the ski entourage started in Europe in the fall, and then went to North America. Mikaela Shiffrin and company are currently racing again in Austria and Italy, before heading back to the US in February.
Ice making problem
De Jong also draws attention to the environmental impact of reservoirs, which is essential for large-scale artificial snow making. Water for this purpose often comes from great distances, and pumping it leads to high energy costs. Tightrope walking, because there is no (artificial) snow usually means no winter sports.
Snowboarders are best without snow. Landing on mats is a tried and tested concept. “I think it’s good that we try to think all year round,” Norway’s longtime coach Alexander Stockl said in regards to climate change.
There are no mats at the Hinterzarten Ski Jumping World Cup. “In order for the system to be able to snow, a minimum of minus five degrees Celsius is required and that’s in at least three days to be able to produce enough snow,” said Kornhas, spokeswoman. The economic consequences in the event of a cancellation would be significant for the spa town. “32 containers were ordered for the 16-nation team area, rooms that had to be canceled were booked and other expenses were factored into the initial planning.”
Snow depots for the Biathlon World Cup
Those in charge of mathematical sports in Oberhof are more optimistic. The Biathlon World Championships will be held there in February. Temperatures are expected to reach freezing in the coming days. In addition, about 35,000 cubic meters of ice is stored in warehouses. That’s nearly four times what the regulators had in Ruhpolding.
“This is the amount of snow that we have not seen like this in recent years, and it has always been sufficient,” said Hartmut Schubert, World Cup and Oberhof representative to the Thuringian state government.
In the end, everyone knows that nature makes the rules. There is no money in the world that can replace snow. Instead, winter sports events should be rethought, in line with nature. Ski jumpers showed how this can be done. Biathletes can switch to roller skates as they did in the summer, but as for alpine athletes, the entire calendar will have to be postponed. Only when winter sports reinvent themselves will their future be secured.
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