the tractor-size groomer backs over a 40-foot-tall
mound of compacted snow, unrolling a bolt of
white fabric. On top of the mound, six workers
are stitching fabric panels together with a hand-
held, heavy-duty sewing machine. It’s June at
Kitzsteinhorn in Austria, one of the highest and
coldest ski areas in the Alps, and melt water is
gushing into ravines on the flanks of the moun-
tain. But up on the glacier, the slope maintenance
crew is preparing for the next season.
Even at 10,000 feet, counting on natural snow
has become too risky. So the team led by techni-
cal manager Günther Brennsteiner is taking out
insurance. They’ve spent a month plowing the
last of this season’s snow into eight multistory
mounds, of which the largest are bigger than foot-
ball fields. They’re now spending another month
covering the mounds with fabric to insulate them
over the summer. When the new season begins,
if it’s too warm for fresh snow to fall—or even for
artificial snow to be made—dump trucks and
groomers will spread old snow on the slopes.
Figuring out how to stockpile snow at this
scale hasn’t been easy, says one of the workers,
Hannes Posch. Before the crew started stitch-
ing the panels together, wind gusts sometimes
ripped them apart, uncovering the mounds.
Other times, the fabric froze solid into the snow.
“Everything that could go wrong, has,” Posch
says, as he zip-ties a sandbag to the fabric. Once,
at the nearby resort of Kitzbühel, lightning set aResearchers explore
an ice cave in the Pers
Glacier. Such caves
form naturally, but
the recent expansion
of this one is a sign of
how rapidly glaciers
are retreating. Some
have all but vanished,
leaving locals with a
deep sense of loss.
By 2100, if climate-
warming greenhouse
gas emissions aren’t
cut dramatically, the
Alps could be
nearly ice free.
The National
Geographic Society,
committed to illuminat-
ing and protecting the
wonder of our world,
has funded Explorer Ciril
Jazbec’s work on climate
change since 2019.
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MCKENDRY
SURROUNDED BY
RUGGED PEAKS
SO HIGH THEY TEAR
CLOUDS APART,
64 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC