The surprisingly low-tech way a B.C. ski resort is saving its snow

The Sun Peaks skis edifice adjacent Kamloops, successful B.C.'s Interior, has a caller instrumentality to combat the impacts of warming temperatures: 18 giant, insulated blankets to assistance support their pulverization chill during summertime months.

The edifice said its 300-foot agelong snowfall mat, believed to beryllium the first of its benignant successful Canada, was developed by a Finnish institution called Snow Secure. The institution marketed the merchandise arsenic a mode to guarantee reliable early-season skis conditions amid warming temperatures.

Crews astatine Sun Peaks spent portion of the wintertime harvesting snowfall and bringing it to a singular determination precocious successful the mountain. They then covered the heap to support it from the summertime sun.

When autumn comes around, they'll statesman distributing the snowfall successful bid to marque afloat runs, disposable for alpine teams to bid on.

"It's fantastic ... we tin enactment location and prevention immoderate money," said Euan Currie, a skis transverse racer based astatine Sun Peaks.

Typically, helium travels to Europe aboriginal successful the skis play successful bid to find capable snowfall to enactment with, but helium hopes this caller strategy volition assistance springiness him a home-court advantage.

"Earlier skis times equals much winning," helium said.

WATCH | Sun Peaks launches snowfall retention technology: 

The amazingly elemental exertion was launched successful Europe astir the crook of the century, and has go progressively fashionable among resorts there.

The blankets are made using extruded polystyrene and person real-time somesthesia monitoring.

More recently, they've been adopted by North American skis hills as they woody with progressively unreliable clime patterns that person led to declines successful some gross and radical consenting to ammunition retired wealth for season passes that whitethorn not beryllium enactment to bully use.

Currie's father, Duncan, is Sun Peak's operations manager and 1 of the radical who has been laying the blankets out. He said each one covers the equivalent of astir 4 shot fields.

He said adjacent erstwhile temperatures surpass 30 C, it's expected 75 to 80 per cent of the snowfall should enactment secure.

"We person assurance that the prime of the snowfall volition beryllium what we privation to bid on," helium said.

Sun Peaks said it shelled retired $180,000 for the mats but believes it's a worthwhile concern if it means a much unafraid skis season.

According to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe, the outpouring snowfall battalion successful B.C.'s souther Interior mountains has dropped betwixt 20 and 40 per cent since the 1970s. Based connected existent trends, different 10 to 40 per cent could beryllium mislaid by 2035.

"We are going to suffer much snow," she said, adding galore wintertime resorts are looking for ways to sphere the season.

Sun Peaks communications manager Christina Antoniak said she's excited for the mats to travel disconnected this autumn and the ability to denote the commencement of the season, earlier and with much assurance than successful caller years.

"I deliberation it's going to beryllium a precise milestone day," she said.