Photo : Greta Formation
So what does a snowmaker do? Well, he/she is charge of making artificial snow in ski resorts. With the effects of global warming and increasingly demanding skiers and snowboarders who expect excellent snow conditions regardless of the weather and time of the year. Artificial snow has now become more of a necessity than a luxury for all ski resorts, regardless of altitude or their exposure. Let’s take a look behind the scenes of this little-known profession.
Mother Nature generally makes sure that the slopes in ski resorts across the Alps are covered with a thick white blanket, but when she occasionally lets us down, this is when the snowmakers in their factories snow come in to play. So what is needed then? Just cold air and water? Well, thankfully, yes just these 2 natural ingredients are all that’s needed - chemicals or adjuvant are no longer added. There are some miracles molecules that exist such as Snowmax, but thankfully this product was banned in 1988 in France. So, apart from water consumption it entails, which is still not negligible, the production of artificial snow has very little impact on the environment. To give you an idea of the amount of water needed, the Mountain Wilderness Association estimates that about 21 million m3 of water are pumped to the slopes to produce artificial snow – the equivalent to one year’s consumption in a city of 400,000 inhabitants!
Today, in all ski resorts, there are a number of people who work full-time throughout the year to ensure the quality and quantity of snow throughout the winter season. In fact, the work starts well before winter, with maintenance or upgrading work on the network of snow cannons and this is where the snowmaker becomes laborer, plumber and electrician. If you really want to see how things work, you have to go the mountains in the summer to see the kilometers of pipes that are discreetly hidden under ski slopes. Then, when the first cold front comes, snow production starts in anticipation of the coming winter season. However, the snow cannons are only turned on if the combination of temperature, pressure and wind conditions are suitable. In the mountains, these conditions vary from one valley to another, from an altitude to another, and are permanently changing. Hence close monitoring of all computerized data is essential and the snowmaker becomes a computer scientist! A lot of time is also spent out in the ski area, walking or skiing, feeling temperatures and watching weather fronts and so the snowmakers must know the profession of meteorologist too.
Photo : Zermatt
Training to become a snowmaker takes one year after graduating from a technical college and most students go to the Saint Jean de Maurienne school of mountain trades. Graduates then join teams in different ski resorts to gain experience. This a growing sector that will not be affected by the financial crisis. As shown by the experts ISSW at their annual meeting in Grenoble in October, snow will not regularly fall below 1800 meters of altitude over the next thirty years. Today, absolutely every ski resort, even the highest, rely on artificial snowmaking facilities to ensure quantity and quality of the snow for their guests. It’s surprising to learn that Val Thorens, the highest resort in Europe at 2300 m, has no less than 250 snow cannons.
Photo : Greta Formation
So what does a snowmaker do? Well, he/she is charge of making artificial snow in ski resorts. With the effects of global warming and increasingly demanding skiers and snowboarders who expect excellent snow conditions regardless of the weather and time of the year. Artificial snow has now become more of a necessity than a luxury for all ski resorts, regardless of altitude or their exposure. Let’s take a look behind the scenes of this little-known profession.
Mother Nature generally makes sure that the slopes in ski resorts across the Alps are covered with a thick white blanket, but when she occasionally lets us down, this is when the snowmakers in their factories snow come in to play. So what is needed then? Just cold air and water? Well, thankfully, yes just these 2 natural ingredients are all that’s needed - chemicals or adjuvant are no longer added. There are some miracles molecules that exist such as Snowmax, but thankfully this product was banned in 1988 in France. So, apart from water consumption it entails, which is still not negligible, the production of artificial snow has very little impact on the environment. To give you an idea of the amount of water needed, the Mountain Wilderness Association estimates that about 21 million m3 of water are pumped to the slopes to produce artificial snow – the equivalent to one year’s consumption in a city of 400,000 inhabitants!
Today, in all ski resorts, there are a number of people who work full-time throughout the year to ensure the quality and quantity of snow throughout the winter season. In fact, the work starts well before winter, with maintenance or upgrading work on the network of snow cannons and this is where the snowmaker becomes laborer, plumber and electrician. If you really want to see how things work, you have to go the mountains in the summer to see the kilometers of pipes that are discreetly hidden under ski slopes. Then, when the first cold front comes, snow production starts in anticipation of the coming winter season. However, the snow cannons are only turned on if the combination of temperature, pressure and wind conditions are suitable. In the mountains, these conditions vary from one valley to another, from an altitude to another, and are permanently changing. Hence close monitoring of all computerized data is essential and the snowmaker becomes a computer scientist! A lot of time is also spent out in the ski area, walking or skiing, feeling temperatures and watching weather fronts and so the snowmakers must know the profession of meteorologist too.
Photo : Zermatt
Training to become a snowmaker takes one year after graduating from a technical college and most students go to the Saint Jean de Maurienne school of mountain trades. Graduates then join teams in different ski resorts to gain experience. This a growing sector that will not be affected by the financial crisis. As shown by the experts ISSW at their annual meeting in Grenoble in October, snow will not regularly fall below 1800 meters of altitude over the next thirty years. Today, absolutely every ski resort, even the highest, rely on artificial snowmaking facilities to ensure quantity and quality of the snow for their guests. It’s surprising to learn that Val Thorens, the highest resort in Europe at 2300 m, has no less than 250 snow cannons.
Being lucky enough to have parents who were crazy about skiing, my love for the mountains started when I was 4 years old on our first family ski holiday to Austrian ski resort of Obergurl. One ski holiday a year was never enough and tears rolled down my face as I looked out the back window of the car on the drive down the valley on the way home!
