- Strong wind gusts unbalanced the lift system at General's Mountain ski resort in Xinjiang, according to a report
This is the terrifying moment when skiers are thrown high into the air as high winds sweep across the resort.
Strong gusts of wind knocked the lift system out of balance at the General's Mountain ski resort in Xinjiang, northwest China, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported.
The lift had to be stopped while skiers sat in icy conditions several feet above the snow-covered slopes waiting for the storm to pass.
Several chairlifts can be seen swaying wildly in the wind, some transporting anxious skiers.
It comes as Chinese capital Beijing experiences the coldest December since records began in 1951.
Several chairlifts can be seen swaying wildly in the wind, some transporting anxious skiers. Strong wind gusts knocked the lift system out of balance at the General's Mountain ski resort in Xinjiang, northwest China, according to a report.
Temperatures in the city have often dropped below -10 degrees Celsius this month.
China has been hit by several waves of extremely cold weather so far this winter.
According to the state-backed news agency China Daily, a weather observatory in Beijing recently recorded more than 300 hours of subzero temperatures in less than two weeks.
The cold wave has spread to other Chinese provinces, forcing schools to close in some areas and putting pressure on transport services.
The persistent cold weather has affected energy supplies in Henan province. There are reports that some boilers are out of order.
Meanwhile, ski resorts across Europe are reported to be facing an uncertain future as snow retreats on popular slopes and climate change could push temperatures to new seasonal highs.
At Morzine and Les Gets, trendy resorts in the French Alps, heavy rainfall this holiday season caused delays, with tourists only able to hit the slopes two days before Christmas.
The duration of snow cover in the famous mountains stretching from France to Slovenia is now 36 days shorter than the long-term average, making effective ski seasons shorter and shorter every year, a study claims.
And snow cover in the Alps during the main ski months fell by 8.4 percent per decade between 1971 and 2019, according to research published by the European Geosciences Union.
Cécile Burton, chief executive of the non-profit organization Montagne Verte, told The Guardian: “Temperatures in the Alps are rising at more than twice the global average and that is not good news for an industry that depends on snow.”
As many as 98 percent of ski resorts in 28 European countries are now expected to be at 'very high risk' of snow scarcity if temperatures rise by just 4 degrees Celsius – and 53 percent if temperatures rise by just two degrees, a report in Nature shows . found it.
With Europe dependent on mountains for 90 percent of its water, the findings have raised concerns among experts, who say snow cover has seen an “unprecedented” decline since the Middle Ages.
Areas around the French Alps, the Carpathians and Finland – among the top destinations for the continent's 210 million annual skiers – have suffered some of the worst impacts of climate change in Europe, research shows.