Mammoth Mountain, CA, “Snow Farming:” A Dutiful Art on an Absolutely Massive Scale Give Michaelangelo some marble, and you’ll probably get a sculpture. Give him some late-spring snow and a snowcat, and he might be Mammoth Mountain’s Director of Slope Maintenance and the Unbound Terrain Parks, Scott Cherry. Cherry organizes the resort crews that keep Mammoth and its terrain parks open long after other ski areas have already shut down and transitioned toward […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | April 25, 2023 8 Comments
Finland Ski Resort Building Artificial Glacier Levi Ski Resort in northern Finland is a leader in innovation and environmentally friendly development. That trend continues as they are building a man-made glacier and a new high-speed chair lift to service it. So far Levi says they have moved around 20,000 cubic meters of soil to create a smooth base for the slope to get it ready to […] Industry News Brent Thomas | August 24, 2022 2 Comments
Less Than 100 Days Until Non-Glacier Skiing Returns to the Northern Hemisphere Ruka Ski Resort announced a few days ago that it plans to open for the 2021-22 winter Ski and Ride season in less than 100 days. The resort, located in Finland, plans to open for the season on October 8th, 2021. This is significant as the resort does not exist on a glacier. Given that Ruka isn’t on a glacier, […] Industry News Nic Stathos | July 2, 2021 0 Comments
European Resorts Begin Harvesting Snow to Save For Next Season With the increasing pressure on resorts to open early and with good conditions, snow farming has become recognized as one of the most useful ways to preserve snow. While much of Europe’s snow remained unskied this season, that doesn’t mean it can’t be used next season. Resorts in Europe have begun the now annual process of farming their snow and using […] Industry News SnowBrains | April 22, 2021 3 Comments
Ski Areas Taking Advantage of Abrupt Early Closure and SAVING Snow for NEXT Season Like all ski resorts across the northern hemisphere, Levi in Finland has to close early due to the coronavirus pandemic. The closures will have a long-lasting and dramatic economic effect on ski resorts and businesses that rely on them. Levi, though, is already preparing for a bumper season next year – by saving this year’s snow for next season. Related: Snow […] Industry News SnowBrains | April 13, 2020 1 Comment
First Non-Glacial Ski Resort in the Northern Hemisphere OPENED Last Week for Winter 2018/19 With all the talk this side of the pond being about Loveland, A-Basin, and now Wolf Creek racing to open first, this resort in Finland got in there and beat them all by a clear week. Their 2018-19 ski season got underway last Friday at Ruka in Lapland, making it the first ski resort in the northern hemisphere that doesn’t […] Industry News SnowBrains | October 12, 2018 0 Comments
Snow Farming Could Guarantee a Solid-Packed Start to the Ski Season A technique called snow farming ensures that the ski season gets off to a good start, and could be a revolutionary way for resorts to preserve snow through the summer. It is currently being used by the world’s biggest ski area, the Trois Vallees in France, home to Val Thorens and Courchevel. These two resorts are working to preserve snow […] Industry News Kristen Strom | June 23, 2018 0 Comments
European Ski Resorts Take Up Snow Farming for Next Season With the increasing pressure on resorts to open early and with good conditions, snow farming has been recognized as one of the most useful ways to preserve snow. Resorts use tarpaulin to cover their snow farms or sawdust to cover mounds of snow. Both methods have proven successful for multiple resorts and are an important part to their success. After […] Industry News Katy Shipley | May 21, 2018 2 Comments