Winter sports face warming reality after Milan Cortina spotlight

The Milan Cortina Olympics highlighted growing diversity and participation in winter sports, but the long-term viability of those gains may depend less on enthusiasm than on the climate itself.

Rising global temperatures and increasingly unpredictable winters are threatening the infrastructure that allows people to learn and participate in sports such as curling, ice hockey and skiing. If current warming trends persist, the geographic footprint of winter sports is likely to shrink.

“Climate change is ultimately going to be an arbiter of the growth of winter sports versus people's interest,” Lauren Anderson, director of the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Business Center, told Axios.

The Milan Cortina Games reflected years of national and grassroots efforts to broaden access and representation. Athletes such as Elana Meyers Taylor, Alysa Liu, Chloe Kim and Laila Edwards emerged as prominent examples of that progress.

At the community level, organisations such as Black Boarders CT run programmes for youth and mothers of colour, while the Professional Women's Hockey League has taken games and clinics beyond its home markets to boost exposure and participation.

However, the industry is increasingly constrained by environmental realities.

Warmer winters are forcing ski resorts and communities to rely heavily on artificial snow to keep facilities operating. That solution has limits: snowmaking requires near-freezing temperatures and relatively dry air, conditions that are becoming less reliable as winters shorten.

According to Anderson, the decline in natural snow is also driving greater dependence on specialised dry-land training centres or indoor ski warehouses. Even then, access remains limited.

And more ice rinks “aren’t going to just pop up,” Anderson said, noting that they require significant investment.

The financial strain is already evident. The Minnesota Park Board spent nearly $110,000 per day to maintain outdoor rinks during the winter of 2024, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. Meanwhile, Portland did not open its popular downtown ice rink for the 2025 holiday season because of city budget constraints, a spokesperson told KOIN 6 News.

The Milan Cortina Olympics demonstrated strong demand and growing inclusion in winter sports. But as Anderson and others warn, no matter how strong that demand becomes, winter sports still depend on winter.

By Sabina Mammadli