With the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics fresh in the public’s memory, many within the snowsports community are grappling with what the future of their sports may look like under climate change. With locations set to become less viable to host winter sports events, many snowsports athletes have turned to climate action to protect what they love.
This episode of the POWcast features Australia’s first Winter Olympic individual medalist, Zali Steggall, though she is perhaps better known now as the federal independent member for Warringah. In this show, Protect Our Winters Climate Campaigner Elyse Kochman chats to Zali about her pioneering past as an alpine skier, her connection to the mountain landscape and the change she is pushing for in federal politics.
Zali begins by talking about her days training as a slalom skier, learning to ski as a child and the connection she maintains with the mountains today. She and Elyse talk about how climate change has affected the mountains and winter sports, what changes we can expect to see in the future and the impact of a warming world on Australian sports culture and society.
Zali tells Elyse about her move into federal politics running on a platform of climate action, integrity and equality, wanting to change a political system she sees as fundamentally unfair for future generations.
They discuss the global challenges facing climate action today and what steps Australia must take to keep warming under two degrees, including curbing the expansion of gas and getting on top of hidden methane emissions during production. Zali finishes by outlining realistic ways we can make a real impact on emissions in our own lives.
This podcast was created by Elyse Kochman and James Worsfold.
Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay
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