In the images from the webcams of the Rettenbach glacier, from where the skiers will set off for this first stage in the Austrian Tyrol, the white tongue which outlines the ski slope is a blot in the middle of a rocky landscape almost devoid of snow. However, there is nothing to worry about in Sölden, which has hosted the autumn meeting for thirty years. The International Ski Federation (FIS) carried out its “snow control” last week and gave the green light to hold the events, partly canceled last year due to weather conditions.
But at a time when Austrian glaciers are retreating at full speed under the effect of climate change, such a competition so early in the season is no longer unanimous: “our glaciers must not be victims of prestige projects”, denounced Greenpeace, accusing the organizers of having used excavators on the Rettenbach to prepare the track. The subject has taken on such proportions that it has even provoked a reaction from the Austrian government. “It is incomprehensible to continue to start at all costs in October, no one understands why it is absolutely necessary to ski on what remains of the glacier in these circumstances,” said the Austrian Minister of the Environment, Leonore Gewessler.
A few hundred kilometers west of Sölden, on another glacier and in another country, the reviews are similar. In mid-November, the first descents of the season must take place during a unique stage between Zermatt (Switzerland) and Cervinia (Italy). Announced with great fanfare, this spectacular race at the foot of the iconic Matterhorn was canceled in 2022 due to lack of snow. This year, it fell well but the revelations in the Swiss press of potentially illicit work on the glacier which will host the race were widely relayed, pushing several associations to contact the local authorities who finally ordered a halt to the work outside the race. authorized ski area.
Postpone the start of the season? “A real subject” for Pinturault
For athletes, the equation is difficult. “We love our sport, we love our environment so when we see what is happening in Zermatt, we feel affected,” reacted Alexis Pinturault on Thursday evening during a press point in Sölden. “We are the first to be affected by global warming (…) We want to preserve our environment and at the same time we want to continue our activity. The question is how we can do all that best,” summarized the winner of the big crystal globe in 2021. For him, postponing the start of the season is “a real subject”, especially since it is possible to ski “until June without problem” on certain glaciers. But starting later implies other problems, notably “diminishing training opportunities” for athletes and the challenges for “the entire ski economy behind it”, underlines the Frenchman.
In February, hundreds of professional skiers, including American star Mikaela Shiffrin, signed a letter prepared by the “Protect Our Winters” (POW) association asking the FIS to step up its environmental efforts. This same association launched a petition last week, signed since by some 30,000 people, to ask the Federation to “wake up”, believing that the images in Sölden and Zermatt had “shocked” and “harmed the credibility of sports winter”.
On the sporting side, the race for the globes will be the main objective this season in the absence of the Worlds or the Olympic Games. Mikaela Shiffrin, five-time winner of the crystal globe, and the Swiss Marco Odermatt, victorious in 2022 and 2023, are still huge favorites.
