Snow Saving

Climate change is making a number of established ski resorts economically nonviable. Natural snowfall now can't be relied on, especially at the beginning of a season. Artificial snow is a possibility but it's expensive to produce. In days gone by, before electric fridges and freezers, Finns used to cut blocks of unthawed ice from rivers or lakes. These blocks were then covered in a thick layer of sawdust. They were then stacked in a barn; a pit or an ice cellar. The ice blocks could then be used in the summer months. The Finnish company Snow Secure, have adapted this technique for the benefit of ski resorts. Rather than sawdust, they produce mats of extruded polystyrene. This same material is used in Finnish house insulation. These mats can actually last up to 20 years. They can help preserve the previous year's snow at a resort, for use at the start of the next season. These mats have been successfully used in Finnish ski resorts. Snow Secure has now/ will soon start exporting the mats to Norway, Switzerland and Spain, as well as Wisconsin and New Mexico in the USA (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/01/finland-exports-snow-saving-mats-ski-resorts-climate-crisis). The insulating mats may help marginal ski resorts for a short time. It's, however, not a cure for the impacts of climate change. Global heating is increasing and skiers flying to the resorts, exaccerbates the problem.