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Committed but environmentally-aware skiers and snowboarders will be familiar with this conundrum: how can you continue to enjoy the thrill of the slopes, without jetting off around the world in search of fast-diminishing snow and thereby contributing further to global warming in the process? It's a tough one but the choices you make are crucial. Get it right and there's a chance your kids might actually know what a pair of skis are for too. Get it wrong and the only snowboards they'll ever see will be in a museum. Lecture over almost. There's a good reason why, environmentally speaking, the way you get to your destination is probably much more important than what you do when you get there. Aircraft emissions are the fastest-growing contributor to global warming, and a single return flight to the US can contribute the same to the world's climate change burden as everything else you do in the entire year. And with that much guilt hanging over you, how could you possibly enjoy your stay on the pistes? Enter the Alpine Snow Train. This isn't some kind of hair shirt-wearing eco-sacrifice: according to those in the know (and it's pretty much a word of mouth thing) it's a lot more entertaining than the alternatives. If you get to the Alps by Snow Train, you can ski or board with a pretty clear conscience: train travel is on average responsible for only a third of the pollution of air travel, and is also much cleaner than travelling by car (see Sidebar). And it's actually faster in a sense as well if you let the Snow Train take the strain you can get eight days on the slopes out of one week. Mark Lynas suggests how you can do your bit to ensure that you can have your snow and ski on it too. Read more about winter in this winter holidays article.
With ski season becoming shorter and less predictable and glaciers in retreat, it seems that global warming has already begun to affect winter tourism. Mark Lynas reports on a shrinking industry. "That's it, the season's over." The two ski attendants from the Glencoe Ski Centre were sitting in front of a computer in a nearby village, watching a five-day forecast download from the internet. One of them shook his head glumly as the heavy rain-bearing depressions marched across the screen. "It's only March we should have a month at least of winter to go yet." Scotland's snow is in retreat. According to a recent Scottish Executive report, there have been twelve days less snow cover per decade throughout the country since the late 1970s. And following the winter of 1987/88 there have been only three out of thirteen winters with an above-average snow cover duration. Those who venture into the mountains today are more likely to encounter mud and rain than frost and snow. Read more about winter holidays in this winter holidays article. 
