After this summer's hot temperatures, there is some trepidation about
this winter. Will global warming affect the winter as well, or will
we see another solid season like last year.
One way resorts aim to minimise the risk for skiers and boarders
is through the highly developed systems of artificial snow-manufacture.
Chris Learoyd, of The Meribel Times, brings us up to date with the
situation in the heart of the Three Valleys:
Méribel Alpina (the company responsible for half of the
Méribel valley ski area) produced over 450,000m3 of snow
from over 250 snow cannons last season.
Granted, artificial snow is not the thigh deep powder we all long
to ski, but it is essential for Méribel. With meteorologists
telling us that the average temperature in the second half of the
20th century increased by 0.5°C. per decade, the importance
of being able to create snow becomes apparent. You only have to
look back a couple of winters to when Italian and Austrian resorts
were closing in March, and yet skiing continued in Méribel
until the end of April to see its value.
Creating artificial snow is quite a simple process. Compressed air
and water are blasted into the air by snow 'canons' where the tiny
water droplets crystallise into snow. The air temperature must be
lower than -4 degrees C. and a computer controls which canons are
allowed to spray. The water must be cooled before blasting so enormous
refrigeration plants reduce the temperature of the filtered river
water from 5°C to 1° C.
The cost is considerable and Méribel Alpina spent three million
Euros in 2003 on snowmaking alone, which explains some of the costs
of your ski pass. The infrastructure required to support such operations
is substantial, but clearly Méribel knows where their future
of the industry lies.
The investment continues: last summer a reservoir to support the
new snow canons in Méribel Village was created at a cost
of €800,000 and you only had to look at the slopes at the end
of April to see the dramatic difference to seasons past.
So, consider for a moment as you slide down to La Chaudanne this
winter, where the stuff you are skiing on has come from. Let's hope
it is from the sky, but if Mother Nature does not hear our prayers
then thank heaven for those snow canons.
[Article by Chris Learoyd, The
Meribel Times]
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