Climate change threatens cross-country skiing in Switzerland

Faced with climatic hazards, cross-country skiing is becoming rarer Keystone-SDA

Changing winter conditions are profoundly transforming cross-country skiing. Year after year, the decrease in snow is leaving visible traces on this sport that was widely accessible in the past.

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“What we have noticed in recent years in Nordic centres located around a thousand metres above sea level, in particular in the Jura, is a steep drop in ski days. We are in a process of retraction,” notes Laurent Donzé, president of Romandie Ski de Fond (RSF), an association that brings together around fifty Nordic centres, during an interview with news agency Keystone-ATS.

The observation is clear: “At 1,000 metres, we were skiing yesterday when we wanted, today we only put on the skis when there is snow. This change imposes a new mentality, based on reactivity and flexibility, and redefines the relationship with snow”, underlines the manager.

Cascading effects

Global warming has repercussions on several levels: “Less snow means fewer open trails, which translates into a decrease in the number of users. Fewer young people are being trained. Competitions are becoming rarer, and the media visibility of the sport is decreasing as a result, as is the interest of sponsors,” explains Donzé.

This spiral also affects the motivation of managers of Nordic centres, who are facing increasingly uncertain seasons. The support of public authorities for the purchase of grooming machines could also be questioned. “They may get nervous when it comes to their renewal,” he fears.

Limited solutions

As for the solutions to overcome this lack of white gold, Donzé notes that traditional alternatives quickly show their limits. “Artificial snow, which is possible during competitions, remains difficult to imagine: it is expensive and contradicts the ecological image of cross-country skiing.”

The development of new trails at higher altitudes “is also not an option due to the terrain”. The manager recalls that, however, some sites still exist. For example, the Nordic Centres Les Mosses, La Vue-des-Alpes or Marchairuz still regularly enjoy around a hundred skiing days per year. It also happens that the public thinks that the domains are closed even though the trails are prepared, he observes.

A practice that is evolving

Habits are changing. “Cross-country skiers were not used to going very far,” notes the president of RSF. The new reality requires people to travel more to find favourable conditions, a behaviour that does not correspond to the habits of many followers.

“Only the addicts will go looking for the snow. Polysportspeople will set their sights on mountain biking, running or ski mountaineering,” he believes.

The few centres that will still have white gold could be attacked. An unprecedented situation for a discipline accustomed to vast spaces and generally peaceful cohabitation, except sometimes with pedestrians or snowshoers.

However, this scarcity does not necessarily mean the end of cross-country skiing. “Paradoxically, it could reinforce its value”, notes Donzé.

A sport that is good for your health, easy to access, fairly environmentally friendly, not dangerous, and accessible to all ages, “cross-country skiing is moving towards a new status: that of a rarer but precious activity, where each hour spent on the slopes will count more”.

From the golden age to memory

Present since the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924, cross-country skiing remained exclusive for a long time before experiencing a marked boom at the end of the 1960s, driven by the Swiss successes at the Grenoble and Sapporo Games and by the arrival of mechanical grooming.

The campaign with the evocative slogan “LLL – Langläufer Leben Länger” (Cross-country skiers live longer) brought the discipline to the forefront. More than 30 popular races are organised per season in French-speaking Switzerland.

The appearance of skating in the 1980s and, more recently, the performances of Dario Cologna, who won four Olympic medals, also revived the sport’s image.

To relive this history, a Ski Museum was created two years ago in the town of Le Boéchet in canton Jura, attracting many visitors. “When you feel that something is disappearing, you stick to it,” says Donzé, also founder of this museum.

Translated from French by AI/jdp

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