Global warming, in addition to being a threat to their existence and a subject of questioning about their practices, affects winter sports competitions on a daily basis, and athletes are forced to deal with the scarcity of snow.
At the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Courchevel/Méribel, stars like Mikaela Shiffrin called on their international federation to do more for the environment. Despite the snowy slopes of the fortnight, they did not forget the high temperatures which had raged in Europe between mid-December and mid-January, an extreme climatic episode which had deprived part of the Alps of snow and led to the cancellation several competitions, particularly in alpine skiing.
The teams, who already have to change their habits in the summer when declining European glaciers no longer allow skiing as in the past, are also adapting in the middle of winter. When snowfalls are rare and the production of white gold is impossible for lack of cold, the resorts sometimes manage to save a competition track, but nothing more.
“In sneakers” before setting off
“In difficult conditions, the skiers did not have a warm-up track in Zagreb [pour un premier slalom en janvier] and in Kranjska Gora [Slovénie]. They must be ready to warm up in sneakers before swinging in the tracks. In training, we prepare them by doing heats with little warm-up, ”explains the director of the French women’s alpine ski team Lionel Pellicier.
“In Garmisch [Allemagne, début janvier] we could train in the morning at 8:30 a.m. when it was cold, but not later when the race was at night,” says Olympic slalom champion Clément Noël. “There was no warm-up track. We just made three or four turns during the reconnaissance of the route. »
“It raises awareness of climate change. We must be aware of the fact that these periods are likely to repeat themselves, ”notes the Vosgien.
Faced with a winter that did not come, some biathletes, including the five-time Olympic medalist 2022 Quentin Fillon Maillet, had to put on their roller skis at Christmas, which also undermines morale, beyond technical considerations.
“It feels like the fall months rather than a period of winter when we are used to looking for the beautiful ski slopes. Mentally, these two weeks [fin décembre] were a little depressing, says QFM. It really wasn’t the atmosphere I was expecting, I needed to recharge my batteries, plus I got sick. »
“Feel the Winter”
“Since I started biathlon at a high level, I had always had a piece of track, at least correct, if only 1.5 km. This year, it was impossible to ski anywhere in the Jura, he continues. Roller skis are the perfect solution for the summer, so you don’t have to travel to the other side of the world. But when you take them out in winter, it’s gloomy. »
“A biathlete can practice his sport four months a year and often he is restricted around a shooting range, small loops. There are two good times to do free skiing, distance on good snow, and mental regeneration, it’s Christmas and before the Worlds [fin janvier-début février]. These are fun sessions, which you can’t do in the summer, in a great setting, where you take advantage of the landscape, explains the coach of the Blues of the biathlon Vincent Vittoz. Mentally, it has nothing to do. »
“It’s a big breath of fresh air, it allows you to feel winter too, deep inside, these sessions have been missed,” he says.
In addition to the catastrophic image of white stripes in the middle of the greenery, as in Adelboden (Switzerland) at the beginning of January, skiers and technicians, attentive to the smallest detail, must learn to adapt their equipment to snow which can change very quickly.
“Climate change complicates our work,” says Stéphane Quittet, coach of combined world champion Alexis Pinturault. A few years ago, the conditions were on average more stable, with the same types of snow. It was less of a headache than today. The type of snow changes more quickly, with more regular strong variations, sometimes on the same day. For someone like Alexis who competes in three or four disciplines, it’s more difficult than for the others. »
After a week of good weather and cold, temperatures are expected to rise at the Alpine Worlds with peaks of 10°C in the resort. Skiers are warned, and now used to it.