The jumps are on green slopes, on green mountains, the outrun is not Snow-covered but covered with green mats. Thin men and women in full-body suits ski down the inrun with helmets and skis, jump off, fly 80, 120, 150 meters and land in the outrun. Unbuckle your skis below. Anyone who follows ski jumping not only in winter but also in summer knows the pictures.

But this season everything is different. A novelty in professional ski jumping. Because of the football World Cup in Qatar, the set of rules was adjusted: In order not to have to compete against the TV times of the kickers, the Ski Jumping World Cup started at the beginning of November. But it was too warm for real snow and also too warm for artificial snow in Wisla, Poland. “It’s hard to explain to society that artificial snow is produced in autumn for a lot of money, which then melts away again later in unfavorable weather conditions,” says Ralph Eder, spokesman for the German Ski Association. So it was decided: The start of the World Cup for the men’s ski jumping will take place on mats. An image that viewers may have to get used to.

The World Cup winter 2022/23: Characterized by weather-related cancellations

Climate change has long since reached Winter Sports. Closed pistes, idle lifts, green as far as the eye can see – the ski regions have been dealing with a lack of snow and too much heat in the previous winter. While for most people it is about not being able to practice a hobby, for some it is about existence. For example with those who earn their money with professional winter sports.

In the previous Alpine World Cup alone, races in Zermatt, Beaver Creek, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Gröden, Lech, Sölden and Zagreb were canceled due to the weather. For the race in Wengen this weekend, it was not possible to practice along the entire route because individual areas remained closed to protect the track for the actual race. In the Nordic Combined World Cup, two of the six scheduled venues have been affected: Klingenthal and Chaux-Neuve have been cancelled. Tremors were the order of the day in the biathlon in Ruhpolding last week: that the snow stored from last winter, at least 15,000 cubic meters, is sufficient to host all six planned World Cups. “We don’t have to talk around it,” says DSV spokesman Eder, “there are measurable changes, winter sports will change.”

Ski jumping doesn’t work without snow, biathlon and cross-country skiing

In some sports, such as ski jumping, the switch to non-snow operation is not that difficult. The conditions remain the same, the material can be jumped on mats as on snow. It’s different with cross-country skiing and biathlon, for example, where training and competitions are held on rollers instead of skis in summer – actually a completely new sport that can’t just be taken over into the Winter World Cup. “It’s a completely different set-up,” comments Eder.

In order to be able to organize competitions, a large logistical effort is now often necessary. Simply provide a snow cannon and produce artificial snow – it’s not that easy. At temperatures in the double-digit range, the white mass melts away, and many machines need at least minus 2 degrees for production anyway. You can’t rely on artificial snow alone and so many places, such as Ruhpolding or Oberhof, have huge snow depots. Snow from the previous year – real snow as well as artificial snow produced under the best conditions – is stored in these. It’s also called snow farming. Elsewhere, snow is flown in from higher elevations or trucked in.

Snow depots, snow cannons, snow transport – and the search for new ideas

“The conditions have worsened,” says Maximilian Witting, who researches winter sports and climate change at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Even if it has been an exceptional and extremely bad winter so far, the sport must continue to adapt to such conditions in the future. “There are not many measures, apart from artificial snow, snow transport and storage – or a cancellation.”

There have been many cancellations recently, a sign that the world association FIS must react urgently. Even if it is an extremely warm winter, “the trend clearly shows that we will experience such types of winter more frequently in the future.” The FIS, says Witting, now has the task of ensuring that professional sport continues to have a have platform. The world association left a request from the editorial network Germany (RND) unanswered.

Due to lack of snow: competitions have to be rescheduled

While the cancellations in the World Cup are obvious and noticeable to TV audiences, they go almost unnoticed in the second and third highest competitions. For example, the IBU Cup, the second league of biathlon, had to cancel the start in Sjusjøen, Norway, and instead of competing at Arber in Germany, a race was moved to Slovenia. In the Continental Cup of Nordic Combined, the competition in Eisenerz, Austria, could not be held. Witting assumes that it will be even more difficult to let these competitions take place in the future – without TV money, without an audience, without attention. Eder, on the other hand, sees more of an opportunity: after all, the competitions can be rescheduled much more easily.

Eder sees that a lot is already happening, he says. Already groomed inruns, cross-country ski runs and pistes are used several times: After the World Cups, junior competitions take place there, or training camps are moved there. After the cross-country ski runs for the Tour de Ski were prepared in Oberstdorf, the training for the youngsters was moved there. “We have to work economically there,” says Eder. In principle, this would also be possible for competitions: IBU Cups or Continental Cups could be held directly after the World Cups – at the same place, with the same infrastructure, in order to use synergies.

“We are used to driving after the snow”

A rethink was also needed when it came to training for the professionals. “We had to adapt our training behavior,” says Eder. Winter had shifted increasingly in recent years: November and December tended to be snow-free and warmer, but spring was cold and snowy. “In the meantime, we can train partly in optimal conditions on snow until June.”

That leaves only midsummer and autumn, when either training breaks are taken, training is relocated to other continents and to other countries with glaciers, the focus is on endurance and strength training, or summer competitions take place directly. As Eder puts it: “We are used to chasing the snow.” The DSV-Adler prepared for the Ski Jumping World Cup in Zakopane this weekend under coach Stefan Horngacher in Planica, Slovenia – with more than one meter of snow.

Closed ski areas have an impact on young talent

However, this in turn has an impact on youth work. Children who grow up around winter sports areas have been automatically used to skis, ice skates and snow. Today these children go out and often only see green and brown and grey. “The thing will increase the problem of young people,” says Witting. Those who used to only have to go outside to go into the snow now have to keep driving – that requires activism, more time, more money. “The group that can do that is getting smaller,” Witting points out.

“It would be a lot easier if the youngsters were introduced to winter sports locally,” says Eder. An alternative would be to rely mainly on mats and rollers in the youth field. “But here the feeling for the snow, the classic training, is missing,” says Witting. “The prognosis is: The ski clubs and ski associations are facing major challenges.”

Struggling with a new normal

In any case, the DSV is still struggling with the effects of the corona pandemic: since club life came to a standstill for almost two years, many children were not introduced to winter sports. “It wasn’t easy to activate it again.” It is important to make it clear to everyone: “Snow sports are something special.” Especially in winter, when children move less and are less outside, says Eder, it is also an issue for society as a whole Task to bring children to winter sports and to the mountains.

Outdoor sport is dependent on the weather – and always has been. “There have always been races with well-groomed facilities and races where it’s more difficult,” says Eder, “that won’t change in the future either.” suddenly became impassable. “After the cold early winter, it has been very difficult and very time-consuming to do winter sports for a few weeks now,” says Eder. But also: “We have to be flexible. And we often had to do that in winter sports.” In the past, for example, ski jumping was held on white mats in summer. This looked too similar to snow and out of place, so they were made in green. Now they are discussing again: White mats in winter – for a bit of snow feeling.