Swedish skier on the heat in the Alps: Absurd

There is spring heat in the Austrian Alps where Anders Bengs is to go snowboarding. The last few seasons have been absurd, according to him.

– The frequency of strange heat waves has increased, he says.

The motorhome stands at an altitude of 1,600 meters and when the TT reaches 63-year-old Anders Bengs, the rain falls over the parking lot at the Hintertux Glacier. Together with his wife Carina, he now spends a large part of the year in the Alps, but the couple has regularly traveled here to go snowboarding for over 20 years.

The Austrian glacier resort of Hintertuxer offers skiing all year round. The Bengs have been on site since January 7, and at that time there was a lot of snow on the ground and on the hill.

“absurd”

Since then it has only gotten worse.

– It has been April weather for three or four weeks. Or, it’s more like in May with almost 20 degrees of heat, says Anders Bengs.

– I’ve seen a lot of strange things over the years, but now it’s absurd. It rains, is sunny and warm right up to an altitude of 3,000 meters. That’s what’s weird. In the past it has been warm for shorter periods and maybe 5 plus degrees, but now everything is ruined when it is so extremely hot, even at high altitude.

The Bengs have moved between the Alpine peaks in Italy, Switzerland and Austria. But their picture is that the entire Alps are affected by warmer temperatures and more rain. At the same time, a lot of snow came early this season, in November and December last year.

– If you only get above 2,000 meters there is a good base. But the ride is ruined when it rains at regular intervals basically right up to the top, says Bengs.

– If it freezes, the slopes will be World Cup-beaten competition courses and not the nice snow you want as a sports holiday visitor. And down below 1,500-1,000 meters it’s pure disaster for any facility that has a lot of slopes at that altitude, it’s pretty much bare ground except for swaths of cannon snow.

“Stunned”

What do you think this means for the skiing industry in the Alps?

– One can ask what slop and bad riding means in the long term. It seems as established that you should have a ski week as a Canary week. Prices are rising, but people seem prepared to spend as much money as possible on skiing, says Bengs.

– The actual thing about the Alps is the same, but you are amazed by the temperatures. The 20/21 season was the finest in many years. But since then the frequency of such strange heat waves has increased and this year has been extreme. In the long term, you may have to ask yourself if you really should continue with this sport.