In Bolivia, world's highest ski resort melting away
Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:14 AM ET6By Helen Popper
CHACALTAYA, Bolivia (Reuters) - Times are hard for the world's highest ski resort, a dizzy 17,388 feet (5,300 metres) above sea level in the Bolivian Andes. Its glacier is melting so fast synthetic snow is seen as the only way to save it.
Scientists say Chacaltaya's diminished piste could disappear altogether within five years due to climate change and, though this humble ski center is no Whistler or Chamonix, it is the only one the poor South American country has got.
"This has been the worst year we've had. It's quite sad to see," said Samuel Mendoza of the Bolivian Andean Club. "We want to bring in artificial snow so we can keep on skiing, so the sport does not die in Bolivia."
In the shady spots around the stone ski lodge, little patches of white survive while icicles drip steadily from the rafters. In the distance below, metal roofs in the sprawling slum city of El Alto glimmer under the fierce Andean sun.
The rudimentary ski lift at Chacaltaya dates back almost to the club's foundation in 1939, and the closest thing to apres ski is a tea made with coca leaves -- hastily prescribed to anyone suffering altitude sickness.
Breathing, as well as skiing, is difficult here, but hardened Chacaltaya skiers say the thin air is a plus.
"It's fantastic to ski at this altitude," said Franklin Mendoza, a former national champion, before heading out to the piste on a Sunday in March, near the end of the season. "People who come here say they feel like they've conquered nature."
"The altitude's not such a problem. It's mind over matter," said Alfredo Martinez, a sprightly 70-year-old club veteran dressed in a tracksuit and bobble hat. "I've skied in Chamonix (in France) and you don't get the powdery snow you find up here."
CLIMATE CHANGE
But not even Chacaltaya's lofty heights can save it from the ravages of climate change, though it is not clear whether its glacier is melting so fast because of global warming or its proximity to the growing cities of El Alto and La Paz, some 19 miles away across the Andean plateau. The heat emitted by the cities' vehicles, industry and other human activity is reaching the glacier.
"There is no doubt this is the result of the actions of man," said Alfonso Velarde, director of the Institute of Physical Investigation at La Paz's San Andres University.
Continued...
posted by ... @ 7:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home