Four out of ten Norwegians don’t ski at all during winter
According to a poll, four out of ten Norwegians aren’t going out skiing at all throughout the winter. Outdoor recreation organizations owe the statistics to the lack of snow in recent winters.
In a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the umbrella organization ‘Norsk Friluftsliv’, 40% said they aren’t going skiing in winter. 16% are undecided, or say they might.
‘Climate change will impact outdoor life considerably. For many people, the ‘Winter Holiday’ in the coming years is likely to become an early ‘Spring Break’, said Lasse Heimdal, the general secretary of Norsk Friluftsliv.
In a similar survey two years ago, 55% responded that they had been skiing during the winter, or were planning to do so. In this year’s survey, that figure had become 44%.
This means that about one in five people who skied in 2015 have left the skis in the basement this year.
‘This is a large change since the previous survey, and is probably due to the mild and snowless winters’, said Heimdal.
He still managed to find some good news in the survey. In the youngest age groups, over half answered that they’re going skiing in winter.
‘It is positive that many of the young say they’re going skiing, despite their being so little snow in winter’, said Heimdal.
Central Norway and Northern Norway had the highest numbers who responded that they are going skiing this winter, with, respectively, 48% and 54%, while the most uncertain were in Oslo and on the West Coast.
Heimdal believes that lack of snow should not be an excuse to stay away from nature, and outdoor life. ‘Discover ice skates, use crampons underfoot or switch to studded tires on the bike’, he urged.
‘We need all the light, and the exercise we can get during the long winter. We have to learn, and encourage Norwegians to use nature in new ways in the winter, even though there is a lack of snow’, said Heimdal.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
