Climate change|Experienced skier Reijo Jylhä says that the changes in the environment are easy to see with the naked eye.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The coaches and athletes of the Finnish national skiing team have observed the melting of glaciers in Italy’s Val Senales and Austria’s Ramsau.
Cross-country skiing coach Reijo Jylhä says that the glacier in Val Senales has melted about five meters in eight years.
Climate change makes skiing conditions more difficult and increases uncertainty about snow conditions in different parts of the world.
Ski competitions are organized more and more with the help of artificially produced and preserved snow.
Women’s The cross country team camped in Italy’s Val Senales in October.
The destination has been familiar to Finnish skiers for a long time. So familiar that they couldn’t help but notice what has happened to the glacier over the years.
“The snow has decreased tremendously over time and the weather has warmed up. Snow cannons have also appeared on the glacier to correct the conditions. In the future, this sight may not exist”, Katri Lylynperä wrote On Instagram after the camp.
Coach of the women’s national team Reijo Jylhä mentioned the same thing at a media conference organized by the Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
Jylhä visited Val Senales in South Tyrol for the first time in 2001 and the last time before this fall was eight years ago.
The current situation of Val Senales drew the experienced skier to silence. According to him, changes in the environment can be detected easily with the naked eye.
“Fifteen meters of the glacier had melted since the last time. It did surprise me when I went there now,” says Jylhä seriously.
The Val Senales glacier, located at about 3,200 meters, photographed in 2017.
Skiing conditions have survived better in Val Senales than in many other Central European glaciers, Jylhä says.
The ski resort is located on such a steep slope that it has not been able to sink downwards.
Ironically, this year’s camp had the best skiing conditions that Jylhä has ever experienced in Val Senales.
“We were lucky as it now rained 30 centimeters of snow and it was a few degrees below zero.”
However, snowfalls do not change the big picture. BBC news in February that the world’s glaciers are now melting at a record pace. During the last decade, they have shrunk by a third more than in 2000–2011.
Central Europe has lost 39 percent of its glacier in just over 20 years.
When the men’s national team camped in Ramsau, Austria in October, they didn’t even take skis with them, because you can’t ski properly on the glacier anymore.
Located at an altitude of 2,700 meters, Ramsau was previously considered a paradise for skiing.
“There are cracks due to the warm air, and the environment becomes dangerous,” Jylhä knows.
Jylhä remembers from the beginning of his coaching career in the late 1980s an “incredibly good” glacier in Cran-Montana, Switzerland, where the tracks spread over an unusually wide area.
“There is no glacier there anymore. The last places where you can ski are at 3,000 meters.”
For example AFP news at the end of September from Glamos’ research, according to which the volume of Switzerland’s glaciers has decreased by a quarter over the past decade. In the current year, the glaciers have shrunk by three percent.
Skiing the future is an insignificant side plot in the tangle of problems caused by climate change, but it naturally weighs on the minds of species people.
“Yes, it makes me think, of course,” Jylhä sighs.
The competitions are largely skied with preserved snow, both in Finland and in other parts of the world.
“Climate change is related to the fact that it can snow a lot for a moment. One year it can be a very good winter and the next there is no snow at all. There is no longer any certainty as to where the conditions are good.”
The ski season starts next weekend with the Suomen Cup on the first snow slope in Vuokatti.
A total of 60,000 cubes of snow made last winter with snow cannons have been preserved for the track, tells Yle.