If Jackson Harvey has any childhood memories not directly tied to the depths of winter, you\u2019ll be hard pressed to coax them out of him.<\/p>\n
Raised in the mountains of Colorado by an American dad and an Aussie mum, the 23-year-old Olympic moguls skier grew up surrounded by great big piles of snow \u2013 a childhood experience he fears may soon become extinct, as global warming lashes Australia\u2019s alpine communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember there would always be this sense of anticipation when you knew you and your friends would be going out skiing the next day. They\u2019d just be these endless days of skiing powder and just enjoying everybody\u2019s company,\u201d Harvey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what really sparked my love for the mountains and winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working alongside a coalition of scientists and winter athletes called Protect Our Winters (POW), Harvey has just spent a week in Canberra calling on politicians to support a national alpine resistance plan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He moved to Australia in 2023 to join the Olympic moguls skiing team, but as a teenager he spent the 2015 ski season in Jindabyne on exchange at the local Central School.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my most vivid memories of that season was training on the famous Toppa\u2019s Dream mogul course at Perisher Resort, which is this behemoth of a course. It\u2019s known for its steep pitch, and it\u2019s quite robust,\u201d Harvey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I moved out to join the national team, we would train on the same course. For the last four years now, the main domestic moguls skiing event, which is held on Toppa\u2019s Dream, has been shortened because of extreme weather circumstances like rain and high wind.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe snow deteriorates so much that the jumps fall apart and the conditions become too unsafe and unsustainable to hold the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
The average temperature in the Australian Alps has risen by about 2C since the middle of the 20th century, and while that may not sound like much, the variation has caused a 30 per cent reduction in snow cover.<\/p>\n
The changes are causing significant stress for local communities who have been forced to endure shortened snow seasons and, therefore, less profitability during key tourist influx periods.<\/p>\n
Winter sports commentator and international freeskier Mia Rennie \u2013 \u201cMiff\u201d to her mates \u2013 was raised in Cabramurra on the western side of the Snowy Mountains, the town where local average temperatures are recorded each year.<\/p>\n
She said. winters experienced by locals and tourists today are a far cry from the snow seasons of her childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the winter, we used to regularly have to dig our door out of the snow, it was quite common. Now, when you tell kids that used to happen in Australia, it feels like a foreign story \u2013 they can\u2019t relate to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to ski at Selwyn Snow Resort when my parents were ski patrollers there, and the change has been so drastic. After the 2019 fires, they burned down and were forced to rebuild \u2026 but they can\u2019t even hold ski seasons anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lodge owners are really struggling this year to make the money. They\u2019re losing customers, and it\u2019s a lot quieter around town, especially Selwyn and Cabramurra.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just don\u2019t get the snowfall they need \u2026 it\u2019s a scary, daunting thing. I had my first turns there as a kid, and I know my kids won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rennie said part of the reason she went to Canberra this week was to make sure everybody was \u201con the same page\u201d about how dire the situation was.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t something anybody can deny. The facts are there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need to open their eyes and see that our winters have been shortening, snowfall is less and it\u2019s decreasing every year. Nothing can be denied anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Climate scientist and lead author of the National Climate Risk Assessment Andrew Watkins said one of the major issues caused by the rise in temperature was snow now falling as rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, a ski season has between three and five big snowfall events, but unfortunately as we\u2019ve seen this season, some of those events are falling as rain, which is the natural enemy of snow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future of drier and warmer conditions is really concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Watkins said the flow-on effects could be even more devastating, citing issues around water flow and Indigenous heritage<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge range of aspects well beyond just the environment and skiers. It\u2019s not even just the communities on top of the mountain, it\u2019s agriculture too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAround 29 per cent of the water that comes into the Murray Darling Basin comes from the high country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s First Nations aspects as well. This place has been part of their culture for tens of thousands of years. Ultimately, all of these things are at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Dr Watkins, there is a glaring need for a \u201cco-ordinated mechanism\u201d between state and federal governments to keep alpine communities thriving.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment, some pieces of the adaptation process are all over the place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing really co-ordinating it together and there\u2019s nothing at the moment really collecting all the voices.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re asking the government to form a plan that doesn\u2019t leave anybody behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Social scientist Ruby Olsson believes a national alpine adaptation plan is the key to keeping Australia\u2019s alpine regions safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is actually quite a lot of adaptation happening in the Alps, but it\u2019s happening at a very disjointed, fragmented, individual level,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this missed opportunity to have something multi-jurisdictional, so across NSW, Victoria and the ACT. There\u2019s also a role for private landowners to get involved, and on top of all of this we\u2019re hoping the commonwealth can take on a co-ordinating role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other defined areas of extreme environmental significance, like the Great Barrier Reef, are governed by plans similar to the one POW is advocating for.<\/p>\n
Harvey said the best way to think about the situation was to assume we were \u201cborrowing the environment from our children and grandchildren\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to leave it in a really good place for them, and that\u2019s our responsibility. There\u2019s a great deal of urgency here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job in Canberra is not to ask for sympathy as an elite athlete but rather to advocate on behalf of future generations of athletes who deserve their fair shot at the gold medal.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody deserves to be able to experience the magic of the alpine region. That\u2019s what we\u2019re here for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Jackson Harvey has any childhood memories not directly tied to the depths of winter, you\u2019ll be 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