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Unwrapping the glaciers

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Back in the spring some stations started to cover glaciers, it's now time to peel the wrappers off and see if it's worked. The cover is off from the Tortin glaicer above Verber and they've just started work to remove the one at Andermatt, some detail about the process here.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I think this is just amazing. Wrapping in a whole glacier.....

World is starting to heat up so fast....

First I was against this wrapping, but at the other hand: preserve what you can preserve.. right? Maybe one day all of us will become aware of the threats
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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?
Couldn't they be good kids and wait until Christmas morning?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
The guy from Téléverbier was pointing out it's not much of a solution though, you can only wrap so much glacier up. But, when you look at the situation at Andermatt you can see why it's attactive to them, without some action the lift there will be left many meters above the snow. I think the project at Andermatt only cost 30,000 chf which isn't so much.

Welcome to snoweads ... or is that welkomstgroet ?
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
doctoressie, welcome snowHead to snowHeads snowHead .
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Martin Bell, that's what I was thinking Very Happy I guess if it's under a few meters of snow it'll be hard to dig out.

On the other hand, if anyone has a use for 5000 sqm of heat reflecting covers between now and May I'll be happy to try and negotiate a rental deal for a small consideration.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
This material is known as Ice Protector 500 and is made of polyester/polypropylene, it's weighs in at around 500g/m² and is 3.8mm thick. Each roll is 4.85m and 55m long.
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.polyester/polypropylene...? mm i wonder what this is made out of and just how much energy was burnt to turn it into this...
tsk tsk Confused
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
In fact the manufacturers describe it as " ecologically friendly, free of harmful substances", it's a non-woven which means it's a manmade fabric basically. As for what it's made of, it's polyster which is a manufactured fiber in which the fiber forming substance is any long-chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 85% by weight of an ester of a substituted aromatic carboxylic acid, including but not restricted to substituted terephthalic units, p(-R-O-CO- C6H4-CO-O-)x and parasubstituted hydroxy-benzoate units, p(-R-O-CO-C6H4-O-)x (obviously Very Happy )

In this case it can be be spun from recycled materials.
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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.
ise, sounds like BP. advertising their new greener unleaded petrol wink
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
ise, It might be free of harmful substances (allegedly)at point of application. I am not convinced that there is no greenhouse gas emission cost incurred in the production of the material. It is a little ironic that to protect the glaciers from the effects of global warming, a bit more is probably required to produce the goods wink
That said, it is an initiative that is in it's early years and the effort should be encouraged.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
don't forget you need to offset the impact the alternatives would use, electricity and water for canons and the mechanical equipment to build the ramp.

The company are Swiss, given the material can be produced from recycled PET (plastic bottles) I'd be quite surprised if it wasn't recycled.
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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.
ise,
Quote:

The company are Swiss, given the material can be produced from recycled PET (plastic bottles) I'd be quite surprised if it wasn't recycled

Yes, this would keep the costs down, and reworking plastic bottles is existing technology. Been used for fleeces for many years.
The cost and environmental impact of alternatives to this method, will become more valid, if this fails to halt shrinkage. A method of reversing the loss of glacier area now needs to be developed, and this initiative does not seem to address that problem.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
snowbunny wrote:
A method of reversing the loss of glacier area now needs to be developed, and this initiative does not seem to address that problem.


It's not supposed to, it's a point solution for a particular problem, for example at Andermatt the lift's going to be left a long way above the slopes.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I suppose the greenest alternative would be some sort of rope-ladder, perhaps woven by village women using their own hair.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Martin Bell, Maybe not, think of the shampoo and conditioner needed, not to mention gel, Frizz Serum,......all to keep it looking decent. And think of the damage a hairdryer would do to the glacier Shocked
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I was talking to the piste director Tuaillon at Tignes, and I asked him about the 'cover-up' option. He said they'd considered it, but in the final analysis "you can't fight the sun".

I've been meaning to get back to him since the interview, as the local decision-makers were meeting the following day to try to formulate a plan of action. Unlike Val they'd not been able to convince the local authorities that snowmaking equipment high on the glacier was needed - it'll be interesting to find out if any progress at all has been made.
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