Snowfarming Pilot with Snow Secure Mats at Aspen Snowmass, CO, Beats Own Target, Retaining 85% of Snow Through the Summer

Back in April, Aspen Snowmass became the first Colorado resort to pilot Snow Secure’s insulated snow-storage mats, covering snowpack at Buttermilk and Snowmass with the goal of preserving it through the summer for use on opening day this fall. The resort’s own stated goal at the time, based on results from similar projects in Europe and Canada, was to retain roughly 80% of that stored snow.

The final results are in, and they beat that target: according to a September 24 press release by Snow Secure, drone measurements taken at Aspen Snowmass on August 31 showed 85% of the snow volume remained under the mats, accounting for both summer melt and the natural compression that occurs in any stored snowpack over time.

• Related: Aspen Snowmass Becomes Colorado’s First Resort to Use Snow Secure Storage Mats to Save Snow for Next Winter

Snow Secure ran continuous temperature monitoring at the site from April 30 through August 31, and the numbers illustrate just how much work the insulation was doing. On top of the mats, temperatures averaged 61.8°F (16.6°C) over the summer and peaked at nearly 118°F (47.8°C) on the hottest days. Directly beneath the insulation, at the snow surface itself, the average temperature held at a stable 33.6°F — just above freezing. That’s a thermal gap of more than 84°F between the top of the mats and the snow underneath, sustained across an entire Colorado summer. “Resorts cannot control the autumn weather, but snow storage gives them another way to control when they have snow available,” said Antti Lauslahti, CEO of Snow Secure. “Insulation is what makes summer storage possible in demanding conditions.”

The pilot covers roughly 10 acre-feet — about 3.5 million gallons — of snow-water equivalent across the two mountains, according to Aspen One, mostly consisting of machine-made snow produced during the 2025-26 winter. The logic behind storing it rather than making fresh snow again this fall centers on what Chris Miller, Aspen One’s Senior Vice President of Sustainability, has called the snow’s “embodied energy”: once early-season snow melts away for good, all the water and power used to produce it is lost along with it. Preserving that snow through summer means Aspen can open with a head start this fall without needing to burn through the same water and energy resources a second time during the vulnerable, often marginal conditions of late autumn. “By covering existing snowpack through summer, we can reduce our reliance on early-season snowmaking, conserving water and energy while delivering a better guest experience from opening day,” Aspen Snowmass said in its own description of the pilot, adding that it will use this summer’s results to help decide how far to scale the technology across its other mountains going forward.

Snow farming itself isn’t new — European resorts have used insulated snow piles for decades, most commonly relying on sawdust and wood chips rather than synthetic mats. Research from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos has found that a sawdust layer of at least 30 to 40 centimeters (12-16 inches) is enough to absorb most of the incoming solar heat during the day, and that even a 5°C rise in ambient temperature only costs about 3% additional snow depth when insulation is properly applied. Sawdust-based snow farming has typically preserved between 70% and 80% of stored snow through summer.

Aspen’s 85% result with Snow Secure’s synthetic mat system sits above that traditional range, and above the resort’s own 80% pre-season target. It indicates that the test of the Snow Secure mats was a huge success at Aspen Snowmass.

Snow Secure’s mat technology, developed in Finland, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025. The company says it has completed more than 150 installations worldwide, with more than 10 North American ski resorts — including Soldier Hollow, the cross-country venue for the 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics — adopting the system over the past two seasons. Beyond Aspen, the technology has already been deployed at resorts in Canada, Wisconsin, and Idaho. Lauslahti says Snow Secure is currently in development discussions with roughly 80 resorts across North America.

• Related: Snow Secure, a Pioneer in Large-Scale Snow Storage and Snowfarming Solutions, Named TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025

The mats themselves are rated to last at least 10 years of seasonal use, backed by an ongoing eight-year benchmark program in Finland — giving Aspen, and the growing list of other resorts adopting the system, reason to view summer snow storage as more than a one-off experiment as early-season conditions across the West continue to grow less predictable.