Swiss Review 1/2019

Swiss Review / January 2019 / No.1 12 Science Skiing in late autumn on the Tschentenalp – on snow from yesteryear: the piste is made of snow from the previous winter that was preserved over the summer. Photo: Keystone THEODORA PETER Snow-farming is the new buzz word in winter sports resorts. Among the pioneers is Davos, where for ten years now snow reserves from the previous winter have been preserved under a thick layer of sawdust over summer. A four-kilometre-long cross-country scape that was still green. On the Tschentenalp overlooking Adelboden, piste vehicles packed 24,000 cubic metres of natural snow into an eight-metre high depot after the close of the winter season. Over summer, the elongated snow mound was cov- ered with insulation panels and a Swiss francs is a regional club that wants to offer local ski racing talents an alternative to training on over- used and distant glacial skiing areas. To date in Switzerland, there are snow-farming projects in some ten ski destinations. That is the number estimated by the Institute for Snow Snows of yesteryear On the Swiss Plateau and in the alpine foothills, snow is becoming scarcer. Due to global warming, it is now found only at higher elevations. Snow is increasingly becoming a precious commodity. ski trail can already be groomed in autumn – regardless of the weather. To produce artificial snow, on the other hand, requires low tempera- tures and sufficient time. Thanks to snow-farming, a ski piste was rolled out for the first time last October in an autumnal land- nonwovenmaterial. Admittedly, dur- ing the heat of summer 30 percent of the volume melted away. Still, the snow that remained was enough to groom a 500-metre-long, 40-me- tre-wide and around 80-centime- tre-deep piste six months later. Be- hind the pilot project costing 250,000 and Avalanche Research (SLF). In ad- dition to Davos and Adelboden, the preserving of snow over summer is common particularly in high-lying glacial skiing areas, such as Saas Fee, Gemsstock, Piz Corvatsch and Dia- volezza. However, an SLF survey of around 100 ski resorts in the Ger-