Sun Peaks Resort a trailblazer in snow storage amid climate change

Sun Peaks Resort is breaking new ground for ski resorts across the country using snow storage technology from Finland that guarantees deep, quality snow for professional skiers early in the season.

Last month, grooming crews at the resort unveiled a mammoth-sized pile of stored snow estimated at 10,000 cubic metres.

The snow was collected this spring from one of the ski runs on Tod Mountain that is open for public use during the ski season, but is also used as a training facility for alpine athletes for several weeks before the hill opens every November.

“The snow we stored last spring was scraped off the top two thirds of that run and pushed into the bottom third with grooming machines,” the resort’s director of communications Christina Antoniak told iNFOnews.ca.

“It took the team several days to form a long pile about thirty feet tall by a hundred feet long.”

The massive pile was covered with 18 long mats and sealed off to be stored until October.

The mats are a patented snow storing technology made by a company called Snow Secure that is headquartered in Finland. The company has been implementing snow storage for 25 years in Europe and is bringing the technology to North America.

Sun Peaks Resort is the first one in Canada to use it. Despite the hot summer months, 80 to 85 per cent of the snow was retained.

“The retention rate was what we were hoping for and is consistent with what Snow Secure has seen with other resorts in northern Europe,” Antoniak said.

“When we unveiled the snow, it sat for a couple of weeks and then we pushed it out at end of October with grooming machines and ended up with five acres of ground covered with snow ranging from one to two feet in depth.”

The stored snow allows Sun Peaks Resort to guarantee the race training facility can open on the dates athletes have booked.

“In the past, if the conditions are mild in the fall leading up to the race centre opening date and we don’t have either enough fresh snow or haven’t had cold enough temperatures to make our own, we’ve had to push that date back,” Antoniak said. “Of course, that isn’t good for the teams, they have travel arrangements lined up.”   

Antti Lauslahti is the CEO for Snow Secure’s North American division. He was at Sun Peaks Resort in the spring supervising the snow storage.

“We understand well what the enemies of snow are and how to fight against it,” Lauslahti said. “The summers in Finland are very warm. It’s so far north we have the midnight sun and night temperatures are much higher than in Canada.”

Sun Peaks Resort was the perfect resort to introduce the snow storage technology in Canada.

“When we go to a new market, we start with the training grounds for ski clubs and professional skiers, we want to be connected to resorts that need an early training facility,” Lauslahti said.

“We’re very happy to be linked with Sun Peaks. They have the location where they can’t open for training if they’re not able to make snow yet.”

In simple terms, the technology in the mats prevents heat from coming into the snow pile and cold from escaping while combatting sun, heat, wind and rain, but the mats are part of a much bigger process.

Lauslahti first meets staff on the ski hills to inspect the location and determine the best plan for storing the snow. There is a science behind when and at what temperatures to produce the best quality snow in the most energy efficient manner before storing it. The mats are deployed and secured over the snow in one day.  

“In the mountain if you leave the storage unattended for one night the wind can pick up and destroy the storage, so speed is really important,” he said.

It cost Sun Peaks Resort $180,000 for 18 mats that are designed to last for more than a decade.

Antoniak with the resort said it is a helpful tool in combatting increasing temperatures due to climate change.

“We’re in a reality with warming temperatures where during fall and early winter there is more variability in temperatures and snowfall,” she said. “Ski areas all over the world are dealing with this, so how can we future proof our business with the realities of climate change? This is one unique tool to save snow from one season to the next.”

Lauslahti said he is seeing the beginning of the ski season postponed around the world including in northern Europe, the Alps and in the North America.

Snow Secure is starting to make connections with other ski resorts in BC and beyond.

“Everybody wanted to see what happened with Sun Peaks first, so we’re picking up new potential customers now,” he said.

The operations team at Sun Peaks Resort has been fielding phone calls and emails from guests and other resorts asking about the snow storage.

“We’re really pleased with the results and it’s great to be leading the industry,” Antoniak said. “We’re a bit of guinea pig but it worked in our favour and we’re really excited for the potential of growing this in the future.”