Resort uses trend-setting way of preserving snow
An innovative way of preserving some of Old Man Winter’s seasonal impact will be serving some Sun Peaks Resorts schussers well, with the B.C. resort having become the first ski area in Canada to use Finnish snow storage technology that enables it to preserve snow over the summer months.
Sun Peaks partnered with Snow Secure that enabled it to successfully stockpile 14,000 square meters of snow over summer beneath a blanket of 18 patented, insulated mats monitored in real time. The innovation leads to up to 85% of pristine snow being retained through the warmest months, ensuring an immediate, natural snow surface for early-season alpine race training, and freeing up 1.5 million gallons of water for additional mountain coverage.
“There has been a lot of interest from the ski industry in hearing about our project, eager to see the results this fall when we uncover the snow and incorporate it into our early season race centre,” says resort director of communications Christina Antoniak. “Other resorts are certainly curious about the technology and we would expect to see others investing in this technology in future. Snow in the early season can be unpredictable, particularly with changing weather patterns. Early season snow variability is top of mind for operations teams, and anything we can do to weather-proof our early season is important to setting a positive tone going into a new winter season.
“Our Snow Secure project complements a major $5.5 million dollar snowmaking enhancement program, started in 2024 and carrying through to 2029,” says Antoniak. “With the Snow Secure project we’re able to move 1.5 million of our 30 million in snowmaking water to other important areas of our operations while we prepare for public opening day, and into the early weeks of the ski season. The Snowmaking Enhancement Program is focused on adding additional modern and efficient snow machines (snow guns) into the existing fleet (currently 36 machines), adding onboard weather stations into the system that will automate the operations of the snow guns based on programmed weather indicators (which is traditionally a lengthy, manual process), and upgraded in-ground infrastructure. We will be able to make more snow, earlier, in critical areas such as the lower portion of the mountain, our learning area, and terrain parks, to improve the early season ski experience if Mother Nature is holding back the natural snow.”
“Sun Peaks is renowned for consistent snowfall, moderate temperatures, and wide-open slopes as Canada’s second largest ski area,”adds Colin Brost, senior director of destination and market development with Tourism Sun Peaks. “Our ski-through village was built for convenience and is ideal for Canadian families seeking a stress-free domestic ski holiday.
“But it’s not just about skiing. More Canadians – including many who don’t ski or ride – are visiting to embrace winter in other ways: snowmobiling, dog sledding, sleigh rides, or simply soaking in a hot tub with a glass of BC wine and mountain views. Families from across the country can connect through Kamloops Airport, take a shuttle up the mountain, and be roasting s’mores in under an hour.
“We’re already pacing 10% ahead of last season for domestic bookings, and we expect to welcome even more Canadians this winter.”
Antoniak says an inconsistent snow base isn’t a new issue for the ski industry, but adds “there seems to be even more inconsistency in weather patterns and conditions in early season. This investment is focused on our Nancy Greene International Race Centre and the alpine racers that travel to Sun Peaks to train. With this preserved snow, we have more confidence in being able to open the race centre on its scheduled opening day. There have been cases in past that we’ve had to bump the opening day, as weather patterns haven’t necessarily worked in our favour to start snow making that early
Snow Cats are used to gather and distribute the white stuff.
The snow was stored on the lower portion of the OSV run on Tod Mountain, which is the Nancy Greene International Race Centre where the alpine race training lanes are set up.
“This investment is focused on the race centre and we are fairly confident that with this snow, which will be used on the lower third to half of the course, plus snow making at the top of the course that we will be opening the race centre on it’s scheduled opening date in early November,” Antoniak continues. “The benefit of this preserved snow in relation to lower elevation areas of the mountain means that we can move snow making equipment to other public areas to support better coverage for early season. This includes the lower portion of runs that feed into the village base, the learning area, and the lower terrain park.”
Antoniak first saw the technology in use at a ski area in Europe, and then pitched it to the Sun Peaks team,with Sun Peaks being the first Canadian resort to do so. Only recently were Snow Secure’s patents approved in North America, and they are now pursuing partnerships across Canada and the USA.
Meanwhile, Antoniak says Sun Peaks may broaden its use of the technology at a time when many ski resorts around the world are struggling with an inadequate snow base.
“We’ve purchased the insulated mats as a long-term strategy,” she says. “Now the question is whether we add further investment and purchase additional mats.”
