Eighteen-year-old alpine skier Pietro Casartelli always imagined carving his path to professional glory. But rising temperatures are melting his ambitions—literally. \\"Last summer, my usual training slopes were just…gone,\\" he says. Ski resorts across Europe are scrambling as warmer winters shorten seasons and force painful adaptations.
Take Hautacam in the French Pyrenees: Once a snowy paradise, it’s now rebranded as \\"Hautacam Plage\\" (Beach) on social media , with slopes repurposed for hiking and biking. Josiane Sempe, a ski rental shop owner there, puts it bluntly: \\"Seasons like this mean game over.\\"
For athletes like Pietro, climate disruptions aren’t just inconvenient—they’re expensive. A planned training camp in Chile? Canceled due to sky-high costs. Training now requires chasing snow to higher altitudes or overseas, pricing many out of the sport.
From the Alps to the Pyrenees, communities built around winter sports face existential questions. Can artificial snow save the day? Or will Europe’s ski culture become another relic of a cooler past? Let’s hope innovators and policymakers can keep the slopes alive—before the final run.
\\"Last summer, my usual training slopes were just…gone,\\" he says. Ski resorts across Europe are scrambling as warmer winters shorten seasons and force painful adaptations.
, with slopes repurposed for hiking and biking. Josiane Sempe, a ski rental shop owner there, puts it bluntly: \\"Seasons like this mean game over.\\"
Discover China's Hidden Gem: Wulipo's Sapphire…
