Snow joke: Winter Paralympics athletes angry at scheduling as big thaw hits

2026-03-12 - 17:03

Ice melt causes dangerous conditions for para athletes IPC says changing winter calendar ‘easier said than done’ In Cortina d’Ampezzo, the thaw is on. With daytime temperatures reaching double figures in celsius, snow is disappearing from the hillsides and the “torrenti” of ice melt have started to flow once again. Traditionally a time of year when snowfall can be at its heaviest, there has been none since the Winter Paralympics began. The Games have not been insulated from the consequences. Last weekend the course at the Cortina snowboard park, about 1,450m above sea level, had to be redesigned the night before competition because it had proved too dangerous in training due to snow melting then refreezing overnight as ice. That did not stop multiple crashes the following day, with the British athlete Davy Zyw one of those to end up in hospital, with broken ribs. Continue reading...