Global warming has athletes losing their cool

By Linda Robertson | The Miami Herald • Published February 12, 2008

Patrick Cote, a biathlete from Canada, loves nothing more than cross-country skiing in the snowy woods. On crisp, clear days, he glides beneath pine boughs frosted with powder and across a white carpet glinting as if encrusted with diamonds.

But at a European Cup event nine weeks ago in Sweden, Cote raced inside a concrete ski tunnel that resembles a subway tube.

Because of a confounding lack of snow, a major competition was held for the first time on the enclosed, refrigerated track, normally used for offseason training.

“It was gray, with fluorescent lighting, totally artificial, like something out of a science fiction movie,” Cote said. “What is the point of skiing indoors?”

Downhill skier Steve Nyman said last winter was so warm that dangerous potholes formed on race courses, forcing skiers going 70 mph to either dodge or clunk through them. It was mild enough in the alpine villages for him to wear shorts to dinner.

“Instead of a lot of snow there’s been a lot of mud,” Nyman said. “I ask myself, ‘Do I need to find a new career? Should I take up kiteboarding instead?’“

Winter is vanishing. Flake by precious flake, the season is fading, like a snowman melting in the sun. As global warming pushes temperatures upward, glaciers retreat, mountains go naked, white Christmases become rare and spring comes early.

The perplexing trend has the world’s best skiers and snowboarders in a cold sweat. If their cherished winter wonderland turns to slush, so does their livelihood as athletes. Like the polar bear, the future of winter sports is threatened. If the rate of global warming continues unchecked, skiing could cease to exist by the 22nd century.

Eleven of the warmest years on record have occurred in the past 12, and 2006 was the warmest ever. Greenland is shrinking and Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than scientists expected. Warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, with temperatures rising a third of a degree per decade worldwide, but up 4 degrees in New England and 3 degrees in Colorado.