Winter Sports, Sustainability, and Circular Economy: Your Questions Answered
Why is climate change such a threat to winter sports?
Winter sports depend on predictable cold temperatures and reliable snow, yet warming trends mean shorter seasons, less snowfall, and unstable conditions. Lower-altitude resorts are already struggling to remain viable, and many may soon not be able to operate without relying on artificial snowmaking.
Does climate justice come into play in impacting access to winter sports?
Yes. Lower-altitude and smaller local resorts are more at risk from climate change and have fewer financial resources to adapt. As snow becomes less reliable, these resorts risk closure, affecting local economies and limiting opportunities for young athletes.
What is the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) doing to support sustainability in winter sports?
Under Sustainability Director Susanna Sieff, FIS has developed guidelines for events, resorts, communication, athletes, and waste management. They also run technical webinars, pilot sustainability projects, and are collaborating with the World Meteorological Organization on data-based climate risk mitigation and adaptation tools.
What were the key messages from the 2026 Ski Industry Climate Summit?
The main message from this year’s summit was that collaboration is essential. Resorts, manufacturers, federations, event organisers, athletes, and NGOs must work together because sustainability solutions often depend on shared infrastructure and coordinated action across the winter sports ecosystem.
What does a circular economy look like in the context of winter sports?
A circular economy in winter sports means designing products, operations, and events so that materials stay in use for as long as possible rather than being discarded, minimising waste. The topic is gaining in importance, with governing bodies like FIS including circular economy principles as one of the fundamental pillars of its sustainability strategy.
In a sector where equipment is made from a complex mix of materials which is difficult to recycle, circularity is vital. In practice, a circular winter sports economy would include durable equipment designed to be repaired, reused, and recycled, reuse, rental, and refurbishment schemes, recycling end-of-life gear, and reducing dependency on virgin materials.
What role can circular design play in ski and snowboard equipment manufacturing?
Circular design is essential because traditional ski equipment is complex, multi-layered, and therefore extremely difficult to disassemble and recycle. Millions of skis, boots, and other equipment are discarded annually, most often ending up in landfills.
Designing for circularity includes focusing on durability and longevity, repairability to enable consumers to replace parts, material separability to ease recycling, take-back and refurbish schemes, and even digital product passports to track materials and components. Organisations such as LIFE re-WINTER are already working to recycle winter sports equipment in collaboration with major brands and the EU, but if the entire industry adopts these principles, circular systems become much more feasible and cost-effective.
How can circular procurement standards reduce the footprint of winter sports events?
Circular procurement involves choosing products and services designed for longevity, reuse, or recyclability, helping to reduce event-related waste and carbon emissions. In the context of events, infrastructure represents a significant opportunity to embed these principles. Renting infrastructure rather than purchasing, choosing suppliers that provide take-back schemes, requiring reusable furnishings, sourcing locally, and prioritising refurbished or recycled-content materials all help create and support a circular economy.
What collaborations are needed across the winter sports ecosystem to scale circularity?
As the Ski Industry Climate Summit demonstrated, winter sports is an interconnected ecosystem, and circularity requires cooperation across the entire value chain. Manufacturers and recyclers need to collaborate to improve material separation, recycling technologies, and product passports. Resorts, events, and waste management providers need to work together to expand recycling, composting, and reuse systems. Retailers and rental operators also have a role to play in creating robust repair, refurbishment, and take-back networks for consumers to use.
Are there any winter sports equipment manufacturers who have implemented circularity principles into their business models?
Yes, here are some of the companies taking the lead on circularity in winter sports:
Tecnica Group: Recycle Your Boots: SKISET, Europe’s leading ski equipment rental network, has partnered with Tecnica to allow skiers and snowboarders to drop off their old boots at any of SKISET’s 800+ locations, where the boots are either donated to community sports programs or broken down into individual components to be recycled into components for new boots.
Rossignol: Essential Ski: Rossignol has designed the Essential Ski, a model which, designed with a minimalist approach, includes recycled or natural materials, and boasts 77% recyclability. Rossignol aims for one-third of its ski collection to follow this approach by 2028.
Is there hope for the future of winter sports?
Yes. Despite the urgency, there is growing momentum across the industry. There is a new generation of motivated professionals driving meaningful change, from resorts and events to equipment manufacturers, providing a reason to stay optimistic about the future.