after a big event Daniel Yule thought he would not be able to compete in the men’s slalom at this season’s Alpine Ski World Cup after making a mistake on his first run. “I was ready to pack up and go back to the hotel,” he says. Said He said this in a television interview after an event held last weekend in Chamonix, France.
Instead, his time was good enough to advance to the second round. From there, the Swiss skier, who was in last place, went on to win the entire event. In the 58 years of competition, no athlete had ever come from such a low position and rose through the ranks in one run to win the trophy. It was a testament to Yule skiing, but it was also a testament to the reality of climate change that cannot be ignored.
of temperature of the day Temperatures in Chamonix soared to an unusual 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit), well above the average high of -1 degrees Fahrenheit for February. The competition rules state that slalom skiers must ski their second run in reverse order of their standing after their first run. This means that Yule, who is in last place, will take the lead on his second run on the uninterrupted slope. His competitors chase down slopes carved by those before them that are rapidly melting under the midday sun, with the winner being the person with the shortest combined time over two runs. “I was definitely lucky,” Yule said.
Slalom skiing requires competitors to avoid a series of gates as they descend. Therefore, turning is a determining factor in the race. Like the Yule for the second run, when skiers first perform, they can choose where to turn around at each gate. When you do this, the pressure from your skis creates ruts in the snow. Successive skiers will follow these ruts to some degree, and the deeper the ruts, the harder it becomes for the following skier to follow a line that suits their style.
The effects of this rut are more pronounced and occur earlier on warm days, said Arnaud de Mondonard, head of alpine ski research at snowsports equipment brand Salomon. Additionally, as the snow on the runway melts, slush forms, making it even more difficult for skiers to turn. And de Mondonard is keen to emphasize that snow does not melt or compact evenly across the course. For the last skier, determining the stability and texture of the terrain would have been a major challenge.
On gentle slopes like Chamonix, all these factors would have contributed to the skier’s performance. said Clement Noël, a Frenchman who dropped from first to third after being more than two seconds behind Juhl in the second run. It was really, really bumpy. ” By the time Noel started his second run, more than 45 minutes after Yule had started, the ski slopes were beginning to melt in the sunlight.
Some see Yule’s performance as one of the first examples of climate change disrupting performance in professional sports. Mark Maslin is Professor of Earth System Science at University College London. to save our planetI wrote it. Post on LinkedIn: “I respect Yule’s work and congratulations to him…but no one can deny what happened here…the reason was painfully obvious.”
