With two glacier slaloms, the World Cup gets underway in Austria and kick starts a hectic 90-race season that runs until mid-March. Meanwhile, the shadow of climate change looms large among the snow-capped peaks and icy slopes. With warmer temperatures threatening to melt away their sports paradise, Alpine skiers are holding onto their poles in worry. Zagreb’s exclusion because of low-altitude issues is in contrast to Soelden’s problem of not having enough snow at a high altitude.

Hence, this year 500 skiers, including Mikaela Shiffrin and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, have petitioned for the open strategy of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation in the face of climate change. The topic now grabbed much attention as the winter sports season is taking place in spite of global warming. In the face of growing environmental concerns, the most decorated skier has come to the fore to adopt a brave approach.

Mikaela Shiffrin commands climate change issue

More than 500 athletes signed a petition for stronger climate measures to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) in early 2023, starting the back-and-forth dynamics of this scenario. Protect Our Winters (POW), a non-profit organization in Colorado, stated on its Instagram page that the planned event is premature since the course is made of fake snow and glacier ice. In their latest Instagram video, Shiffrin and Kilde spoke on the issue, which stressed, “A key demand to @FISAlpine was for full transparency.”

The caption further added, “FIS should: Publish an accurate organisational carbon footprint report, release a credible sustainability strategy and disclose the full details of FIS’s offsetting programme. This has not been done #tryharderFIS.” Regarding glacier digging for a Zermatt early-season skiing event, FIS issued a rebuttal to POW Switzerland. The statement from the FIS included, “Instead of shallow and attention-grabbing campaigns, we support long-term, practical projects.”

Meanwhile, the Swiss standout Marco Odermatt said, “Soelden has never been a real winter race, it shouldn’t be. Soelden is the season opener, a wakeup call for the ski industry.” However, with 88 world cups and ahead of adding more to her collection, Shiffrin’s response to signing the petition was clear. She said, “It is so dear to us, winter is the most important thing in our sports… We really want to make changes and strive for a better world.” Amid the unresolved issues over the future of skiing, the NGO was confronted with counter-allegations that called into question its motives.

FIS’ accusation against POW Switzerland

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