The Shortest Ski Season
After the shortest ski season in a decade, I traveled to the Alps—only to find slopes closed by heavy snow and avalanches. A story of contradiction, guilt, and accelerating change.
It took me a while to write this postcard.
A warm winter in the Rocky Mountains led to the shortest ski season I remember since I moved here a decade ago. Since our snow was so scant in Colorado, I visited the French Alps while I was in the area for work. Unfortunately, there was so much snow accumulation during my trip that the majority of the ski slopes were closed, and every day brought news of dangerous and deadly avalanches.
I’m not sure of the extent of how climate change will change this sport I love so much, but the pace of this change seems to be accelerating.
I feared writing about skiing in Europe due to bad snow in Colorado, because it’s impossible to ignore the paradox of contributing to climate change by flying internationally as I tried to avoid a climate change–caused problem.
The Postcard Experiment inspired me to inspect this feeling of guilt and write mine anyway (though I feel like I need to note that I was required to travel for work to try to alleviate some of my guilt!).
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Jean Peccoud
Jean Peccoud