Climate change and its impacts on the Alpine Ski World Cup: an analytical overview of the last two decades

Authors

  • Michal Klobučník Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography and Territorial Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava
  • Gabriela Nováková Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography and Territorial Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava
  • Vladimír Bačík Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography and Territorial Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6883-9863
  • Katarína Fuksová Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography and Territorial Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31577/geogrcas.2026.78.1.02

Keywords:

alpine skiing, World Cup venues, climate change, Mann-Kendall test, box plot analysis, canceled races, temperature changes

Abstract

Analysis of data from the past two decades offers a comprehensive view of the changing landscape of the Alpine Ski World Cup in the context of climate change‘s impact. Examining the evolution of the total number of races, changes in their seasonal and geographical distribution, the frequency and causes of race cancellations, as well as tracking trends in race course temperatures over two distinct periods reveals worrying trends. The results consistently point to a gradual deterioration of climatic conditions in traditional venues. This negative trend is reflected not only in a noticeable increase in the number of races canceled for various reasons but also in an alarming rise in the average temperatures directly on the course during the races. These findings suggest that climate change is posing an increasingly significant challenge to the stability and future of the Alpine Ski World Cup. 

Downloads

Published

31.03.2026

Issue

Vol. 78 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Standard Issue

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Michal Klobučník, Gabriela Nováková, Vladimír Bačík, Katarína Fuksová

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

All articles published in Geografický časopis are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

This licence permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author(s) and the source are properly cited.

The full licence text is available at:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication.

How to Cite

Climate change and its impacts on the Alpine Ski World Cup: an analytical overview of the last two decades. (2026). Geografický časopis Geographical Journal, 78(1), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.31577/geogrcas.2026.78.1.02