- Title: Kitzbuehel Alps ski slope opens early - to some controversy
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: MITTERSILL IN THE KITZBUEHEL ALPS, AUSTRIA (OCTOBER 23, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SKIIERS SNOW BENEATH SKIIER GONDOLA SNOW / SKIIER PISTE AHEAD OF SKIIER SKIIER SKIIERS ON GONDOLA VARIOUS OF PISTE VARIOUS OF SKIIERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) PRESIDENT OF BERGBAHN AG KITZBUEHEL, JOSEF BURGER, SAYING: "Recycling is sought after and can be found in all areas. We do that here, we recycle the snow. Instead of letting it melt and then having to costly produce it again, we conserve the snow. We do not waste the snow, we use the snow." BURGER TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) PRESIDENT OF BERGBAHN AG KITZBUEHEL, JOSEF BURGER, SAYING: "We are not working against climate change, the change is taking place, but what we are doing is that we offer an early opportunity for skiing with an ecologically clean footprint, which is cost-effective and reduces the expenditure compared to other glacier ski areas." VARIOUS OF SKIIERS PISTE VARIOUS OF STATE PARLIAMENTARIAN FROM THE TYROL GREEN PARTY, GEORG KALTSCHMID, HOLDING UP A THERMOMETER SHOWING TEMPERATURE OF 15 DEGREES CELSIUS (59 F) (SOUNDBITE) (German) STATE PARLIAMENTARIAN FROM THE TYROL GREEN PARTY, GEORG KALTSCHMID, SAYING: "You can't say anything if at the beginning of a season, mid-December, the slopes are prepared, because there is no natural snow there. We're in a region where you just have to admit, because of climate change, the start of the season and the natural snow will probably come later and later. And there we have a little bit more understanding. But in October to set up a piste, a Disneyland in the Tyrolean Alps, we have no understanding at all." VARIOUS OF GONDOLA SKIIER PISTE SKIIER PISTE SEEN FROM GONDOLA SKIIERS ON GONDOLA LANDSCAPE / PISTE
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 12:37
- Keywords: Austrian Alps Alps skiing skiing in Austria
- Location: MITTERSILL, AUSTRIA
- City: MITTERSILL, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Alpine Skiing,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2LFRYX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Not a trace of winter to be seen, and yet winter sports enthusiasts have been gliding down the slopes for over a week - an artificial piste in the Kitzbuehel Alps has made the early start of the season possible.
About 700 metres long and 10 to 20 metres wide, the white stripe standing out clearly from the rest of the green landscape, is being met with disdain from some local environmental associations and politicians.
The president of Bergbahn AG Kitzbuehel Josef, Burger, however, defends the October start, saying the artificial snow used on the slope is recycled and does not affect climate change whatsoever.
Meanwhile, state parliamentarian from the Tyrol Green party, Georg Kaltschmid, calls the piste an attempt to create a "Disneyland in the Tyrolean Alps" and an unnecessary waste of energy and water.
(Production: Ayhan Uyanik, Ralph Brock, Barbara Woolsey) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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