As Italy prepares to host the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, a growing reality threatens the very foundation of winter sports: climate change. Rising temperatures, shrinking snow seasons and unreliable snowfall are increasingly challenging the idea of what a “winter” Games even looks like.
Across the Northern Hemisphere, winter seasons have shortened over the past five decades, with low-elevation regions warming nearly twice as fast as the global average. The result has been widespread declines in snowpack, forcing cancellations of international ski and snowboard events and raising concerns among athletes, organisers and scientists alike.
Athletes sound the alarm as snow becomes unreliable
The impacts are already visible on the competition calendar. In recent years, several International Ski and Snowboard Federation World Cup events have been cancelled due to poor snow conditions and safety concerns. In 2023, nearly 300 winter sport athletes wrote to the federation demanding stronger climate action and a race schedule better aligned with changing weather patterns.
A 2021 survey of more than 300 professional and Olympic winter athletes and coaches across 20 countries found that 90 per cent were worried about how climate change would affect the future of their sports.
For the Olympic movement, these warnings have serious implications. In 2022, the International Olympic Committee delayed the selection of the 2030 Winter Games host city to better assess climate risks at potential locations.
Fewer places can host the Games in a warming world
A 2024 study assessing 93 potential host locations with existing infrastructure found that even with advanced snowmaking, many venues would no longer have reliable winter conditions. By the 2050s, the number of climate-reliable Olympic hosts is projected to fall by half. The outlook for the Paralympic Games is even more constrained, with only 17 to 31 locations likely to remain viable.
The findings suggest that climate change could fundamentally reshape where and how the Winter Olympics and Paralympics are held in the future.
One adaptation strategy under consideration is spreading snow sport venues farther from host cities to higher-altitude locations with more reliable snow. However, this comes at the cost of longer travel times, higher emissions and reduced opportunities for athletes and spectators to experience the Games together.
At Milano Cortina, venues are spread across northern Italy, making logistics more complex and limiting participation in opening and closing ceremonies for many athletes competing far from the main host city.
Why the Paralympics face greater climate risk
Because the Paralympics follow the Olympics, they are particularly vulnerable to warming conditions later in the season. The current “one bid, one city” model, which requires a host to stage both Games at the same venues, has elevated para sport globally. Yet research suggests this framework may not withstand future climate realities.
One proposed solution is to adjust the schedule. Holding the Games earlier in the year with the Olympics in late January or early February and the Paralympics shortly after could nearly double the number of climate-reliable hosts for the Paralympics. This shift could help preserve the shared hosting model well into the second half of the century, provided global emissions are brought under control.
Other options, such as overlapping the Games, alternating hosting years or splitting locations, could improve snow reliability but introduce major political, financial and logistical challenges.
Snowmaking: solution or sustainability dilemma?
Artificial snow has become a cornerstone of modern winter sports. It has been used at every Winter Olympics since 1980, and its role is only expanding. The 2022 Beijing Games relied almost entirely on machine-made snow, drawing criticism over energy use, water consumption and environmental impacts.
Research shows that without snowmaking, the Winter Games in their current form may not be viable beyond mid-century. By 2050, fewer than four locations worldwide would be able to host snow sports reliably without artificial snow.
While snowmaking raises concerns for biodiversity, water resources and emissions, experts warn that without it, competitions would become increasingly unsafe and unfair, with frequent cancellations and compromised athlete performance.
Scientists describe snow sports as a “canary in the coal mine” for climate change. While no outdoor sport is immune to warming temperatures, winter sports are among the first to feel the consequences.
The future of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will depend not only on technological fixes and scheduling changes, but on global efforts to limit warming in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. Without decisive climate action, the defining elements of winter sport snow, ice and cold may become increasingly rare, threatening one of the world’s most iconic sporting traditions.