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snow of tomorrow

Snow of Tomorrow | The Good Side

There is a lot of bad news, but also some good news.

by Lisa Amenda 12/12/2022
Skiing is destroying the environment, destroying the climate and melting glaciers. Then there is the war, the energy crisis and the climate crisis. But we still don't want to be discouraged by these crises. After all, in between all the bad news, there is also some good news from time to time! Snow of Tomorrow focuses on good news instead of crisis posts at the start of the season.

It's 9:09 pm. My neighbor is watching TV. I can tell by the blue-violet light illuminating his living room. Maybe the latest match of the World Cup in Qatar. Or the news. A focal point, perhaps. About the progress of the war in Ukraine. The takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. The energy crisis. The results of the climate conference in Sharm el-Sheik. The inflation. The symptoms of Long Covid. Oh yes, perhaps the current coronavirus case numbers and hospital bed occupancy rates. At the same time, my Instagram feed shows me a long-forgotten world. A space that existed at the beginning of this column but has been completely forgotten for the last two years: ISPO. The latest products from the winter sports industry bubble. The war, the energy crisis, the climate crisis? Left outside in the gray Munich November when you enter the trade fair grounds and promptly forgotten. Is that a bad thing now? In other words: should we feel bad about it?

Quiet quitting on the news portals

When we open a news app today, open the newspaper or possibly switch on the TV, the word "crisis" is emblazoned across everything. That can be disheartening. Pull it down. To the point where you don't even want to look at the news anymore. To the point where you might not only be "quiet quitting" at work, but also on news portals. According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, a crisis is a massive disruption of the social, political or economic system that lasts for a certain (longer) period of time. At the same time, crises also hold the opportunity for (actively sought qualitative) improvement & quot; and it is precisely this opportunity for improvement that I want to focus on.

We can watch the live ticker for crisis 1, 2 or 3 every day, have push notifications sent to us and then fall discouraged into the sofa. Or we can look for opportunities. Opportunities for further development. Opportunities to improve. Opportunities to survive these crises and emerge stronger from them. Crises are never nice or pleasant. They are existential.

How far can skiing go

What is all this doing here on PowderGuide? In a ski magazine? Since 2019, in Snow of Tomorrow, we have been focusing on climate change and how we can tackle it as winter sports enthusiasts. Starting with our clothing, how we travel to the mountains, the areas we support by buying tickets, our diet, how we deal with climate protests and how we want to see the mountains and snow in the future and how others see it. We have embarked on a journey over the last three years. I have also embarked on a journey as an author. We have worked on ourselves, challenged ourselves and thought about our future. We have sometimes gone where it hurt (should we tear down lifts?), but also where it was comfortable (shopping for second-hand Christmas presents). I often had the feeling that we were always looking at what we, the world, had already achieved with a disgruntled expression. It was never enough and - no question - it isn't! Snow of Tomorrow has also become a place that painfully reminds us that we may not be able to ski the way we love to anymore. We have sometimes forgotten that Snow of Tomorrow exists above all because we don't want to give up yet. Because we believe that things can be different.

We are still a ski magazine. We sit here and write because we believe that there are people who simply want to read articles about skiing. They want to know where powder is falling at the weekend, what skis are available this year and what tour recommendations the editorial team has. We know about all the crises out there, we know that electricity is getting more expensive, but we still have this incredible and almost indescribable need to put our feet into boots that are actually far too tight and glide down snow-covered slopes on long poles. Simply because it feels good. Because we feel free when the powder takes our breath away. And also because we finally forget all the other shit that's going on.

Seizing opportunities with confidence

To make sure it stays that way and we don't run away from our adult problems and our responsibility as part of this society like Peter Pan, there is Snow of Tomorrow. This is naturally a balancing act between pure and so often harsh reality and childlike love of deep snow.

That's why we want to take you to the "good side" more often this year. We want to draw attention to the projects that have achieved something. On glacier marriages that were dissolved before the altar. On the reasons why citizen protests make sense. Why it is worth continuing to stand up. Why we can still overcome the climate crisis and why we should not give up hope despite all the crises. We want to make Snow of Tomorrow a place that gives us hope despite everything and does not always send a message of crisis. Realistic and reporting, but motivating. After all, Die Zeit and Süddeutsche also have the good news of the week! Only bad news brings us down, we need a sense of achievement. That's why we'd like to welcome you to the Sportis (Sportfreunde Stiller): "But before your heart breaks/ Here comes the good news/ You and me/ And a few more people/ We're on the good side"

As usual, Snow of Tomorrow will once again feature a mixture of contributions from different authors this season. Lisa guides us through the winter and the Austrian Alpine Club's Spatial Planning and Nature Conservation Department is also a regular contributor. If you have any ideas for topics or would like to contribute to an issue of the column - about good news, bad news or other thoughts on skiing in times of climate change - get in touch at redaktion(at)powderguide.com.

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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