Warming winters lead historic German sled maker to halt production

One of Germany’s final traditional wooden sled manufacturers is halting production because of climate change, reported daily paper Die Welt. “The fact that there is virtually no winter here, no more snow, means it's simply no longer worth it,” said Johannes Ress, who heads the Bavaria-based family business of the same name, to regional broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Ress traces its roots back over 300 years, having been crafting sleds for nearly half a century and horse-drawn carriages before that. At its peak, Ress sold 60,000 sleds per winter. That number has dwindled to just 6,000 in recent years. Attempts to market summer alternatives with wheels failed to attract buyers, despite public praise, according to the article.

The company now wants to sell the 6,000 sledges it still has in stock, but will not produce any new ones, reported Die Welt. The closure of Ress means that only three traditional sled makers remain in Germany. According to a report in the Main Post from March, also international competition played a role in the company's decision to end its sled production line and focus on other products that Ress is manufacturing. Companies from neighbouring EU countries would "ruin the prices" for the German company in a market that is already shrinking in size.

Europe is the continent experiencing the fastest rise in temperatures because of climate change, and the impacts are felt everywhere across the region: Deadly summer heatwaves and floods, devastating droughts, and snow-free ski slopes in winter.