Throughout the weekend, nearly 75,000 spectators are expected in the Haute-Savoie resort, less than 50 km as the crow flies from Geneva. French fans of this sport – which has become almost a national discipline thanks to seeing the Blues pile up the medals -, in addition to athletes and the media, will account for 80% of the carbon footprint of the event. However, it is not them who gave a terrible image of this World Cup event.
Because for years, it has no longer been possible to run these races on natural snow. Climate change has happened, and the track, traced at only 930 meters above sea level, is now far too low to receive the white gold this early in the season, when winter has not yet arrived. Also, the organizers have to “cultivate” the snow to be able to rotate the biathletes, and the trucks are out to move it.
“Everything we do to make this model last and contribute to giving the impression that everything is going well puts us in an increasingly critical delay in making the necessary changes.” Vincent Neirinck, mountain protection expert for the Mountain Wilderness association, explained on France Télévisions that the image given by these trucks transporting snow is much more serious in the collective unconscious than the CO2 balance itself . “One wonders if this is not provocation…” he added.
“We have made a second storage on the site, but it is not yet completely operational. This year, we needed 5,000 to 6,000 m³ of snow and two and a half days of transport. Last year, it was 12,000 m³,” explained the mayor, André Perillat-Amédé. It only accounts for 0.8% of the carbon footprint of the competition weekend, but the images are obviously shocking. So much so that the neighboring city of Annecy recently announced the end of the annual subsidy of 100,000 euros (93,420 Swiss francs) for the event.
However, this will take place until 2030 and the Olympics in the French Alps. The organizers are just hoping for a trip in January.
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