As Jessie Diggins capped off another glittering cross-country skiing season at the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, last month, the American was wearing a special race suit.
It depicted a melting glacier wrapped around her body and aimed to bring awareness to climate change – and the growing challenges it presents for winter sports, including hers.
“I think it’s really important that we get to make it about more than just a ski race,” Diggins had told reporters prior to Worlds, in February. “This is the future of our sport and it’s the future of our planet.”
It was the entire US Ski Team (in cross-country and alpine), in fact, that were suited up in these kits (pictured, above), in partnership with the non-profit Protect Our Winters (POW), which was founded by former pro snowboarded Jeremy Jones.
As the globe marks Earth Day 2025 on Tuesday (22 April) with a focus on renewable energy (this year’s slogan is, Our Power, Our Planet), the glaciers-on-ski-suits initiative is just one of many examples across the sporting and Olympic spaces of athletes and organisations working towards a greener planet.
“We’re all on the same planet, we all breathe the same air for the rest of our lives,” Diggins continued. “And this is the only planet we get; and it’s important to protect it.”
POW, as it’s known, has a long list of A-List athletes backing its cause, including Diggins, Olympic champions Chloe Kim (snowboard) and David Wise (freestyle skiing) – among others.
“[There’s] a little bit of pressure to really live up to [these suits], which many of us do in our day-to-day lives,” added Diggins’ teammate, Gus Schumacher. “We’re trying to uphold our values in that sense… speaking up for climate change and acting individually in ways that are as sustainable as possible.”
