 Poster: A snowHead
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Researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne have concluded that ski resorts which invest too heavily in artificial snow-making experience a negative payback.
This report from SwissInfo.
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| Companies profited from snowmaking but any resorts with an artificial snow capacity above 30 kilometres of slopes stopped benefiting once the financial and depreciation costs were taken into account. The average artificial capacity in Swiss resorts is 20 kilometres. |
This report makes no mention of the fact that Zermatt has 313km of runs, 65% of which are covered by various snow-making systems [according to the resort's data]. On the basis of the above, the resort has made a huge mistake. But presumably they see things differently.
Any comments on this?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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David Goldsmith, It is not clear from the article what has been taken as income to compare with the costs. I assume that it is just lift pass income and perhaps part of or all the tax that forms part of hotel bills. Have they included any of the income generated by bars ,shops etc which would take place if skiing is taking place?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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David Goldsmith, It does seem bizarre for the Zermatt gnomes to have covered so much of their estate with artificail as a] they get hods of snow, b]it's all above 1600m and c]most of it is north facing.... I should say they have so much money from all their dodgy cartels and captive audience, oh and their rather decent resort, that they struggle to find ways to spend it sensibly
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Actually, Zermatt is in a bit of a snow shadow. They've had many seasons with quite thin cover. They've done extremely well this December but they often receive far less snow than the Italian place on the other side of the hill.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I assume you can have a million snow cannons, on a purely financial basis, and only turn on the ones you need (and hopefully stay >30k.) I didn't ever really consider it, but with something like pumping water around a mountain diminishing returns must kick in pretty quickly for making money off them. I'd be interested to know how they looked at "profitable" though, since it's kind of hard to measure.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was amazed that in Tignes the Friday before last, when it had been snowing heavily for days with much more forecast and a great base already there, they seemed to have all the cannons in the resort going all day. I couldn't see the sense myself.
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Surely saying 30K, doesn't make any sense does it? It should be a percentage?
If I have 45K of slope and cover it with 30K of snow making that might be silly, but if I have 500K and cover it with 30K that might make sense?
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| Colin B wrote: |
| I was amazed that in Tignes the Friday before last, when it had been snowing heavily for days with much more forecast and a great base already there, they seemed to have all the cannons in the resort going all day. I couldn't see the sense myself. |
because real snow doesnt last long come spring, the fake snow has a higher melting point and is there to keep the pistes alive in april.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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stab, 
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stab, I think much of it was blown off the next day anyway 
Didn't know it lasted that long thx.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It is a news report into a report. The original may be far more detailed.
The study only appers to have covered a couple of seasons which may or may not be typical. It is very doubtful to my mind that the optimum coverage will be the same for each resort. A major international resort like Zermatt who can expect a long seasopn of high bed occupancy is probably very different from a locals resort like Hoch Ybrig.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Colin B, in the 80s I saw a lot of bare grass and rock slopes on the lower reaches of the Grand Motte - in January, in a couple of seasons. I guess they are building up the snow base in anticipation of less good times. So wot stab said, really - though if the wind is atrong, I don't know how good a base will be established.
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Some reasons this report makes sense:
1. Generally the upper slopes will have decent natural snow cover, making snowmaking on these slopes superfluous in all but the most horrendous seasons.
2. While snowmaking can allow the resort to open earlier and remain open later, these periods are maginal in terms of their ability to attract skiers.
3. What is important is to have good snow cover down to the village. That should be easily accomplished with 30 km of snowmaking with lots to spare on key south facing slopes.
4. I have no doubt that the 80/20 rule holds true for ski runs - 80% of skiers are on 20% of the runs. It is the subset of those runs that are vulnerable to lack or loss of snow that need coverage with snow cannons.
5. The construction and operation of snowmaking equipment is expensive, so even if the added snowmaking brings more income, it may take too long to recover the investment to make it worthwhile.
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