The Liechtenstein Ski Federation (LSV) has moved the snow training of its World Cup racers Charlotte Lingg and Madeleine Beck from Switzerland to Ushuaia, Argentina. In a press release reproduced in full by SKINEWS.CH and also published by lie:zeit, the federation sets out how climate change is reshaping its season preparation.
Glacier slopes closed in early August
According to the LSV, training on Alpine glaciers increasingly has to be restricted or, as in 2026, halted entirely. The nearby training areas in Zermatt, Saas-Fee and on the Stelvio Pass could no longer withstand the summer months and closed their slopes in early August. The federation cites rising temperatures, shrinking snow reserves and glacier retreat.
Safety is also a factor. The LSV says the extreme heat of summer 2026 caused considerable destabilisation of high-alpine terrain in the French Alps, with thawing permafrost and ice altering rock and glacier structures – and with them the safe conditions for slope crews and racers.
For giant slalom, slalom, super-G and downhill, the federation argues, training on prepared slopes can hardly be replaced by indoor ski halls or ski carpets. Its elite and junior athletes need as many days as possible on high-quality snow in summer and early autumn to work on technique, equipment set-up and race lines.
A five-person team in Tierra del Fuego
Head coach Kurt Mayr felt compelled in mid-August to shift the pair's snow training to Argentina at short notice, the release says. At the Ski Resort Ushuaia, the five-person team – two coaches, two athletes and one service technician – has found the best conditions to log training kilometres, according to the LSV. The federation notes that in 2026 its women's team around Lingg and Beck is once again using South American winter conditions, and describes Ushuaia as an important training base for international ski teams.
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The solution makes sporting sense, the LSV says, but it is a considerable additional organisational and financial burden. Long-haul flights, shipping skis and race equipment, accommodation, meals, transfers, support staff and longer stays cost significantly more than training in the Alps. For smaller nations such as Liechtenstein, the consequences can be especially serious.
For 2026/27, the federation says its leadership must again keep strict budget discipline and win over partners and sponsors. If ever larger shares of the budget go into securing training, it warns, money will be lacking for youth development, training development and additional support. Flying thousands of kilometres also increases the environmental footprint of training, the LSV adds.
The federation concludes that the question for alpine ski racing is no longer only how to ski faster, but increasingly where training will still be possible in future – and who can afford it. If the trend continues, the ability to fund international training camps will increasingly decide whether the LSV can still give its athletes the best conditions for elite sport.
