Small Turns, Big Impact: FIS Releases the Athlete Sustainability Guide

The Athlete Sustainability Guide is a new resource from FIS, designed to empower athletes to become leaders in protecting the winters, landscapes, and sports they love.

Sport has the power to influence culture, communities, and global conversations, and athletes are at the heart of that influence.

Through the guide, athletes can:

• Understand how environmental issues are impacting snow sports.

• Speak up confidently to help protect the future of their sport.

• Learn practical ways to lead sustainable change within teams and events.

• Make smarter, more conscious choices as athletes.

Change doesn't require perfection. It starts with small actions, informed choices, and the willingness to lead by example. This approach is at the heart of the FIS Athlete Sustainability Guide, which takes athletes step-by-step through practical actions they can realistically apply in everyday sport and travel, including:

• Understanding and calculating personal carbon footprints

• Reducing unnecessary water use through simple habits

• Avoiding single-use plastics that pollute mountain environments

• Encouraging more sustainable travel, food, and waste practices within teams

• Challenging unsustainable equipment practices and promoting durability

• Speaking honestly about the environmental contradictions within sport

• Sharing real-life progress and practical examples others can follow

And much more.

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The mountain regions that support snow sports are changing. Rising temperatures, shrinking snow seasons, pollution, and habitat loss are threatening these environments where athletes train, compete, and call home.

For example, if global temperatures rise by 2°C, more than half of Europe’s ski resorts could face severe snow shortages without artificial snow. At 4°C of warming, nearly every resort - 98% - would be at risk.

In addition, mountains, often called the “water towers of the world,” provide up to 60% of the world’s freshwater. Snow and glaciers feed rivers that support millions of people downstream. Yet rising temperatures and human activity are rapidly disrupting this natural balance and threatening future water security.

Mountain ecosystems are also under growing pressure from pollution and environmental degradation. Vehicle fluids, road salt, and waste seep into fragile soils and waterways, while heavy traffic releases pollutants that settle on evergreen needles, weakening forests and leaving trees more vulnerable to disease. Microplastic pollution is another critical concern. For example, in the Pyrenees, scientists recorded up to 365 microplastic particles per square meter falling from the sky each day. These plastics accumulate in snow, glaciers, and ecosystems, carrying toxic chemicals that harm wildlife and accelerate the melting of snow and ice.

Beyond pollution, climate change, and growing water pressures, mountain regions also face accelerating habitat loss. Mountains cover a quarter of Earth’s land surface and support nearly one-third of all terrestrial species, yet an estimated 70% of mountain habitats have already been lost.

But this story is not over. The opportunity to create meaningful change remains.