Global warming and its consequences, the sequel. Some ski resorts are seeing an increase in injuries this season compared to previous ones, particularly due to the low amount of snow. This is, for example, the case of Avoriaz, in Haute-Savoie. Located at 1,800 meters above sea level, it has benefited from the “report of the mid-mountain resorts”, the ones that have experienced the least snow this year, according to Maud Baud of the Avoriaz ski lift company.
To date, 75% of the slopes in the French massifs are open: the minimum was reached at the end of December, when only 50% of the slopes were open, according to figures reported by the French Ski Areas to BFMTV. com. This union of ski domain operators confirms that “low mountain resorts have been the most affected” by this phenomenon due to the lack of snow.
In Avoriaz, the additional crowd is estimated at 17%. Therefore, it is normal that the number of injured at the station also increases. But with 30% more injuries than the previous year in Avoriaz, according to the National Mountain Safety Observation System, we see that the increase in the number of skiers does not explain everything.
harder snow
Another parameter influences injuries: the quality of the snow. As of February 22, it had not snowed “significantly” for more than a month in the Alps and the Pyrenees, Météo France noted on its site at the time.
However, less snow also means a more “compact” blanket, Maud Baud describes, and conversely, “when the snow has just fallen, it is softer, softer.”
Therefore, harder snow causes more painful falls, but it is also more slippery, making it difficult to control speed on skis. Result: Commander Benjamin Valla, of CRS Alpes mountain rescue services, told BFMTV that he had been called out for a few weeks with “numerous head injuries”.
A “slight increase” in the number of injuries across all seasons
However, the situations are very different depending on the seasons, according to the National Mountain Safety Observation System (Snosm), a system dependent on the Ministries of the Interior and Sports. The low-altitude stations that “have been closed for three weeks or more” logically see their number of injuries decrease. This affects the higher stations, such as La Plagne, Megève and Avoriaz, explains Ludovic Richard, director of Snosm, to BFMTV.com.
Thus, if it is “too early to draw conclusions about this season”, Snosm forecasts a “slight increase” in the number of injuries in French stations at the end of the season, of the order of 1 to 5%.
These injuries come more from “solitary falls, favored in particular by hard snow, with injuries to the knees, wrists or shoulders,” says Ludovic Richard.
The new standard for skiing?
Is this type of phenomenon destined to be repeated in the future due to global warming linked to human activities? Météo-France explains in an article on its site that it causes winter sports resorts “a reduction in the natural snow cover, both in quantity and duration, especially at low and medium altitudes” and “affects the temperature of the air and, therefore, to the possibility of producing artificial snow”.
For Ludovic Richard, if it is “difficult to say” today that we are going towards more accidents, “it is a risk” to be taken into account.
Source: BFM TV
