Alpine World Cup is slammed for ‘stealing snow from a melting glacier’ for its ski competition

The organizers of the Alpine World Cup have been accused of theft Five soccer fields filled with snow from a melting glacier for an international ski competition.

With the help of drone footage, drillers were alleged to have taken ice from off-limits areas to fill in bald spots in rounds being prepared for next month’s competition.

About two-thirds of the route is on the Theodul Glacier in the Alps, and parts of it are licensed. However, certain sections are also in protected areas where skiing is prohibited, according to the Swiss newspaper 20 minutes.

For example, large parts of the men’s course cross areas classified as restricted, while the start of the women’s event is outside the approved area.

Climate change has already caused the glacier’s mass to shrink by 10 per cent over the past two years, while scientists believe more than half of it will disappear by 2080 if the world continues to warm on its current path.

Withdraw? Organizers of the Alpine World Cup have been accused of stealing five football fields’ worth of snow from a melting glacier for an international skiing competition.

With the help of drone footage, drillers are alleged to have taken ice from off-limits areas to fill in bald spots in rounds being prepared for next month’s competition.

Environmental activists have criticized the alleged drilling operations, blaming organizers for trying to hold races earlier in the season for financial reasons to please sponsors.

The same competition was canceled last year due to lack of snow in the region, which lies above a ski resort between Zermatt, Switzerland, and Cervino, Italy, known as the Matterhorn ski paradise.

Protection winterization (POW) started a Petition Calling on the International Ski Federation (FIS) to become climate “leaders” and “adapt the competition calendar to minimize the impact of travel and respect the changing climate”.

“The images of excavator shovels digging into the Theodul Glacier in Zermatt and bulldozers demolishing the glacier ice in Sölden shocked the outside community,” the group said.

“All of this to prepare the slopes for the FIS’s early-season World Cup ski races.

“At a time when the climate crisis demands a strong and decisive response from policymakers and society as a whole, such practices damage the credibility of winter sports.

“Wake up the Islamic Salvation Front!” Seize the opportunity to become a leader in securing the future of not only winter sports but more importantly, a livable planet.

French triple world champion skater Alexis Pinturault also criticized the skating federation.

“Our sport is one of the sports most affected by global warming, and instead of changing our system and adapting, we are doing the opposite,” he said.

Mikaela Shiffrin, an American World Cup alpine skier, added: “To what extent should we adapt our environment to the schedule we want?” Or should we adapt our schedules to the environment?

However, organizers responded amid the uproar.

Franz Gohlen, head of the local committee organizing the event, told 20 Minuten that no one was “breaking the glacier,” despite what it looked like in pictures of the drillers.

“This is wrong. Three excavators worked on the glacier for three weeks. But they didn’t break anything, they just filled the cracks and cemented them with ice and snow.

They made us a scapegoat. No one knows the issue of receding glaciers as we do in Zermatt. We know what it’s about and we take this sensitive topic seriously.

Julin also insisted that the entire route was within the permitted ski area on the Swiss side at least.

Potholes: About two-thirds of the route is on the Theodul Glacier in the Alps, parts of which are licensed. However, certain sections are also in protected areas where skiing is prohibited, according to the Swiss newspaper 20 Minutes.

Angry: Environmental activists criticized the alleged potholes, blaming organizers for trying to hold races earlier in the season for financial reasons to please sponsors

The same competition was canceled last year due to lack of snow in the region, which is located above a ski resort between Zermatt in Switzerland and Cervino in Italy and is known as the Matterhorn ski paradise.

However, drilling has now been halted while authorities investigate the allegations.

Alpine skiing has been in the spotlight in recent years, amid concerns that global warming could have a major impact on the sport.

Earlier this year, researchers from the University of Basel warned that snow slopes were disappearing rapidly, due to climate change.

In their study, the team found that while precipitation will continue to fall over the Alps as temperatures rise, it will increasingly fall as rain rather than snow.

Last year, a study also found that the number of days covered by snow cover in the Alps would be halved if faster action was not taken to stop climate change.

Countries south of the Alps, including parts of France, Italy and Slovenia, will be particularly affected if emissions are not cut, the researchers said.

They added that the loss of snow would affect the ski industry, nature, and water use downstream, and would itself cause more global warming.

Winter ski holidays in the Alps could become a thing of the past thanks to climate change, a study has warned

It’s a winter tradition for many people around the world, but a ski holiday in the Alps could soon be a thing of the past, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Basel have warned that snowy slopes are disappearing rapidly, due to climate change.

In their study, the team found that while precipitation will continue to fall over the Alps as temperatures rise, it will increasingly fall as rain rather than snow.

In their study, the team found that although precipitation will continue to fall over the Alps as temperatures rise, it will increasingly fall as rain rather than snow.

While artificial snow machines could help the slopes stay open, this would require huge amounts of water – at great cost to tourists.

Read more here.