– I picked up the phone to check how it looked here two years ago when I was here last, and then everything was covered in snow. That contrast was quite extreme, I can honestly admit, says Atle Lie McGrath to news. When the Norwegian athletes arrived in Adelboden, they were met with an unfamiliar sight. The images of green grass and bare trees are not exclusively associated with winter sports. SUMMER OR WINTER?: A skier on one of the thin strips of snow along the piste on 6 January. Photo: STEFAN WERMUTH / Reuters When Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics, the TV images of thin, white strips of artificial snow on brown mountain sides were astonishing. This winter it has also become a common sight in several places in Europe. – It is appalling, at the same time we have seen that winter can be a bit delayed. It has happened that there has been bad snow in Wengen, but then suddenly it rains. It is sad to see green mountain sides with just a few days until the competitions, says Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to news. And the mountain sides will probably not be painted white anytime soon. CONTINUOUS TREES: The World Cup track “Chuenisbärgli” looks particularly good among only trees and patches of grass. SNOW ROADS: The only snow is on the cross-country track and a couple of transport tracks on the side. MELIS: The mountain tops are covered in snow, but down in the valley everything is bare except for the engineered strips of snow. Never experienced anything like it Europe is record hot during the day, and several winter sports have noticed this. Pictures from Oberstdorf have already attracted attention, where the cross-country skiers almost only walked on a white stripe. Now the white stripes also extend up into the mountains. In Adelboden, there is only snow within the red fences of the trail. On the first day of the race, temperatures are expected to reach six degrees. – It gets a bit strange when I see pictures and videos from home from Kvitfjell and Hemsedal where people drive in a meter of powder. Then we stand here and there are cows grazing. That’s not quite the essence of skiing here. It’s sad, says McGrath. CONTRAST-FILLED: McGrath doesn’t quite get a winter vibe from the green slopes in Adelboden. Here he is in Sölden in October, when it was also nice and warm. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Recently, the women’s slalom race in Zagreb was canceled due to hot weather and strong winds. The temperatures are mild in several places, including in Kranjska Gora where the women will race this weekend. – It’s sad, then. It’s weird and then it’s sad. Of course, some winters before have been better than others and so on, but now when it’s up to 20 plus degrees in some places in January, I think it’s sad, says Ragnhild Mowinckel to news. Mowinckel has been in the World Cup circus for ten years, but has never experienced anything like this season. – Not so bad, I don’t have that. I think this is the worst I’ve experienced from a lack of snow. It does change, but I think there are more extreme extremes. Either there is “a lot” of snow or there is nothing. It’s not the smooth, stable conditions anymore, she says. Nor has McGrath experienced anything similar. – No, I have certainly not experienced anything of this caliber. In the four or five years I’ve been driving down here, this is the most extreme, he says. HOT: It was also hot in Zagreb in Croatia in January. The women’s second slalom race had to be canceled due to the heat. MELTER: This is what it looked like in the finish area after the slalom race was canceled in Zagreb. WIND AND WEATHER: Both the wind and the heat were the reasons for the cancellation of the second slalom race in Zagreb. SNOW FLAGS: Similar to Adelboden there was only snow on the piste in Zagreb. Worried about the future Both in Switzerland’s Adelboden and Austria’s Kitzbühel, which have races next weekend, there is only snow on the track and otherwise green grass. Nevertheless, both courses have been given the green light to be carried out. GREEN MEADOW: This is what it looks like in Kitzbühel just over two weeks before the race. FIS has given the green light for races there. Photo: Privat Several races earlier in the season have also been canceled due to the heat and little snow. – It indicates that things are happening in the world and that there is climate change. We have to keep that in mind and then we’ll see. I’m not an expert, but I’m keen to continue with the sport. I am not a good example with a lot of travel, but it is important that we do what we can. The way it looks in Norway now, it looks promising. Suddenly it will be a good winter, but right now it looks thin. You can see it’s a slow winter, says Kilde. CONCERNED: Source thinks it is sad to see green mountain sides in the World Cup. Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news The 22-year-old McGrath fears for the future when he sees how conditions have been in Europe this season. – You start to fear a little when this is what you see, he says. That is what is difficult to say, because there are always varying winters every year. Some years there is much more snow, other years there is less snow. That’s the way it is. – You get worried, you absolutely do. What we do, not just us, but everyone who does winter sports, is winter. Just as it is now looks a bit sad, even though it is the same thing that should be done. Bringing in the military Because that’s exactly what it is. They will be skiing, if only on a thin strip of green mountainside in the Alps. For that to work, all means are used. – They often use the military and helicopters to fly in snow. It’s not enough snow per se that’s the problem, but there’s no base in a way. There is not enough hard snow underneath for it to settle properly, says Henrik Kristoffersen to news. TACKLES EVERYTHING: Now that things are in order with the equipment, Kristoffersen does not fear any type of conditions. Photo: Alessandro Trovati / AP And as for the ground in Adelboden, until a few days ago there was no snow in the lower part of the trail. But there is an explanation, according to Kristoffersen. – The last slope is not a hill for most of the winter. There is usually a road up to a farm, and then they are not allowed to put snow there until x-number of days before the World Cup race. The rest of the route has fairly good conditions, because there has been snow for a long time, so you have a foundation at the bottom that is much harder and compact. But in the last fall, they have not been allowed to dose out the snow until it has now warmed up, he says. But after they were allowed to put snow in the lower part, there have been warm temperatures in Adelboden. This results in a slightly different relationship in the last part. – There is snow there now, that’s it. The question is how compact. That’s the problem now. Since it has been warm throughout that period, the snow is not allowed to settle, says Kristoffersen. FINAL SNOW: This is what the finish area in Adelboden looked like the day before the race. Snow all the way down to the finish area, but not the hard surface like at the top of the trail. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP The job must still be done for the alpinists. And for Norwegians who are used to driving on salty spring snow, conditions should be manageable – even when it’s not quite “Winter Wonderland”. – Right now that is the reality. They can do ski races anyway, because that’s what they’re so good at, so as an athlete you’re completely set on running a race as usual. Because within the two red fences that block off the ground, it’s the same as usual, if you only look at it, says McGrath. – I am really impressed that they have managed to make it work here. Five days ago there was no snow in the finish line. These are extreme conditions. But as in the Olympics in Beijing – suddenly the snow comes from the sky anyway.
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