Vonn, Shiffrin and Brignon among Olympic skiers expressing concern over receding glaciers

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Team USA skiers Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, along with Italy’s Federica Brignone, are among many skiers expressing concern about the rapid melting of the world’s glaciers at these Olympic Games.

And the Olympic host city of Cortina is the perfect place for them to talk about climate change: the glaciers once visible from the city have shrunk dramatically. Many are confined to small glaciers or patches of residual ice at high altitudes between the jagged peaks of the Dolomites. Any Olympian or spectator wishing to lay eyes on the major glacier must take the long drive up the winding mountain roads to Marmolada. It is also melting fast.

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The world’s top skiers train on glaciers because there is high-quality snow, and a warming world threatens the future of their sport. Vonn began skiing at the age of 9 on the glaciers of Austria.

“Most of the glaciers I use to ski are gone,” Vonn, 41, said at a prerace press conference in Cortina on Feb. 3 in response to a question from The Associated Press before she crashed on the Olympic downhill course. “So it’s very real and it’s very clear to us.”

As athletes in snow sports, Shiffrin said, they “get a real front-row view” of the monumental changes taking place on some of the world’s tallest, coldest peaks.

“It’s something that’s very close to our hearts, because it’s the heart and soul of what we do,” Shiffrin told the AP after Sunday’s race. “I really want to believe and hope that with a strong voice within companies and governments and a broader policy change, there is hope for the future of our sport. But I think, it’s a bit … it’s a question.”

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Italy’s glaciers are disappearing

Italian glaciologist Antonella Senes said that Italy has lost more than 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of glacier area since the late 1950s.

“We are seeing a continuous and uninterrupted decline in glacier area and volume. In the last one to two decades, this decline has clearly accelerated,” Senes, an associate professor of physical geography at the University of Milan’s Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, said in an interview.

Among the peaks around Cortina d’Ampezzo, there are glaciers on the slopes of the Cristalo and Sorapis mountains. A 2015 new Italian glacier inventory found these glaciers had shrunk by about a third since the 1959-1962 inventory.

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Shortly after winning her second gold at her home Winter Olympics on Sunday, Brignon told the AP that skiing is “completely different” now than it was when she was younger. Brignon lives in Valle d’Aosta, about six hours away.

When she sees glaciers retreating at higher elevations, Brignon said she’s not thinking about the future of skiing — she’s worried about the future of the planet.

“We have a lot of glaciers there, but they’re growing every year,” she told the AP.

Yet many people who don’t frequent the mountains remain unaware of what’s at stake, which is why the University of Innsbruck created the Goodbye Glaciers Project. Glacier loss has far-reaching consequences, threatening water resources, increasing mountain vulnerability and contributing to sea level rise.

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The project shows how different temperature levels change the amount of ice remaining on selected glaciers around the world. To be included, the estimated 2020 volume of glaciers must be at least 0.01 cubic kilometers. The Cristallo and Sorapis glaciers no longer meet that threshold, said Patrick Schmitt, a doctoral student at the University of Innsbruck.

Protecting glaciers

About 50 kilometers (31 mi) from Cortina is the Marmolada Glacier, one of the largest glaciers in Italy and the largest in the Dolomites. An apartment building-sized chunk of the glacier broke off in July 2022, an avalanche of debris killed 11 hikers. The mountain is popular for hiking in summer and skiing in winter.

The University of Padua reported in 2023 that the glacier had halved over 25 years.

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According to the Goodbye Glaciers Project, it is expected to mostly disappear by 2034 if global temperatures rise by 2.7 Celsius (4.9 Fahrenheit). But if warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit — the international goal — could extend glacier life by another six years, about 100 glaciers in the Alps could be saved, Schmidt said.

“Cutting greenhouse gas emissions now will reduce ice loss in the future and reduce impacts on people and nature,” Schmidt wrote in an email. “The choices we make this decade will decide how much ice is left in the Dolomites, the Alps and around the world.”

Globally, more than 7 trillion tons (6.5 trillion metric tons) of ice has been lost since 2000, according to a study last year. And the potential impact of climate change on the Olympic Games is huge; The list of venues that can host the Winter Games is expected to shrink considerably in the coming years.

It’s not just Vonn, Shiffrin and Brignon — many Olympic skiers are concerned

In Cortina, Noah Szolos, who is competing for Israel, said in an interview that the state of nearby glaciers speaks to the state of glaciers around the world.

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“I hope we can do something about it,” she said, “but it’s a difficult time.”

Finland’s Silja Koskinen said in an interview that she can’t train on some glaciers because of cracks, rocks and running water. Team USA skier AJ Hurt talks about starting the season in October on the glaciers in Solden, Austria.

“Every year, I think we come and there’s a little bit of snow. And every time, we’re like, are we really going to start in October? There’s no snow here,” Hurt told the AP. “It’s really sad and it’s hard to ignore in this game, for sure, when we’re around it so much and it’s so obvious.”

Norwegian skier Nikolai Schirmer is leading the effort to stop fossil fuel companies from sponsoring the winter sports. Burning coal, oil and gas is one of the biggest contributors to global climate change.

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In Bormio, Italy, Team USA skier Nadi Radamus said athletes — as the preserve of outdoor winter sports — should be at the forefront of trying to protect the environment as much as they can.

“It’s always in the back of our minds that we’re on a dangerous trajectory unless we do something right,” Radamus said.

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed from Bormio, Italy.

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AP Winter Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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