Before I start, I have to warn readers that this article contains many of my own conflicting opinions, as I truly don’t know how I feel about this subject. For every negative, I think of a positive and vice versa. I love skiing and snowboarding. From the moment the leaves start to fall and you can feel the slight chill in the air in Autumn, I am excited for the promise of winter, to get out to the mountains and feel that fresh snow under my skis. If that wasn’t possible I know I would be very sad, and I have been known to supplement my obsession with trips to UK snowdomes and dry slopes to be able to train at other points during the year or when I couldn’t make it out to Europe.
The questions I have, and will attempt to explore in this article, are whether artificial snow in ski resorts is a good or a bad thing, and whether artificial areas of snow, such as indoor snowdomes are a good or a bad thing, for the skiers, the ski industry as a whole, and the environment.
Snowdomes & dry slopes
I first went skiing on a dry slope near my house. I was only 8 and it was a little practice before we went on our first ski holiday as a family to France. I can still remember the rubbish brushes that make up the surface, the really mossy area in the damp corner which was really slippery, the fact that it hurt when you fell over, and that it was difficult anyway so falling was a strong likelihood. Despite all these things, I loved it. And twenty years on I’m still loving it. I know quite a few similar stories amongst my snowy friends and from pros too, who started off in the distinctly average settings of a 50m long dry slope or indoor slope. And now look where they are!
British dry slope
James “Woodsy” Woods is one of the most famous advocators of the British dry slope and dome scene, having taken full advantage of the facilities at Sheffield Dry Slope to hone his rail game and freestyle skills. Jamie Nicholls, Aimee Fuller and Madi Rowlands all started training at Hemel Hempstead snow dome and still play a key part in the freestyle scene there. So essentially, artificial snow environments in the UK have been a huge influence on our current success in freestyle skiing and snowboarding. These pros suggest that the shortness of the slope and ability to lap features repeatedly is a really good grounding in the sport, and the scene which has sprung up in the UK as a result of success and having role models in the sport is amazing. There are now so many dry slope and indoor competitions which is nurturing the next generation of skiing and snowboarding talent!
PC: Will Tucker
Photo Credit: James Streater
Masquerading Snow
So in a country without snow of its own, maybe there is a use for the fake stuff masquerading itself as “snow”. I certainly like having the option of being able to drive 3 hours mid-summer and putting on my ski clothes again in a large fridge and having a play around on my snowboard at Hemel Snowdome. But where is the line? Is there a limit to how much snow we can create in a non-snowy environment?
I ask this because of my favourite example of what can be done with a dream to bring snow to the masses and enough money to make it happen: Ski Dubai. Ski Dubai is situated in one of the driest countries in the world, seeing on average only 10cm of rain a year. Surrounded by desert and with blisteringly hot temperatures during the day for most of the year, it is the least likely (or maybe most likely) place to have an indoor ski slope. This is where I think the line has been crossed. To manipulate environmental conditions so much that you can have snow existing in the desert is madness in my opinion, and a huge waste of resources in a country so lacking in water and just throwing money at an issue for nothing more than fun.
22,500m squared of artificial snow year-round in Ski Dubai
Artificial Snow in the Mountains
So I think I mentioned this before, but I love skiing and snowboarding! It has led me to the job I now do and on many adventures around the world, making some of the best friends I have! I know from first-hand experience of growing up going skiing, that snow levels have receded in some ski resorts, and snow depths and falls are not what they used to be in certain areas. Whether it is due to global warming on a large scale or just a few bad years is another story. All I know is that I would be very sad if there wasn’t enough snow to be able to go skiing on. In Europe especially, I am used to the fact that a lot of the slopes are maintained and often kept alive by artificial snow produced by feeding water through snow cannons and firing it only the pistes. It takes A LOT of water to make enough snow to even cover a few pistes so there is a huge environmental impact to doing this. This is where I am conflicted. Would I rather not be able to ski, be restricted to ski in only “pure” real snow resorts, or be able to ski when I want, where I want?!
I think what does worry me, is that if all this creating of fake snow in the short-term is adversely affecting the environment and snow conditions of resorts in the long-term? I also worry that if resorts desperately try and create fake snow to attract more customers, then the overcrowding of the resort is also leading to worse conditions. I already feel that most European resorts are overcrowded and not able to cope with the quantity of skiers. Maybe by leaving the resorts to their natural states, fewer people would go and the resort could manage a little better with natural conditions? This seems to be better demonstrated in the less busy Canadian and Japanese resorts I have skied in. It is rare to have artificial snow in these countries, but the resort areas are smaller and rely on good snowfall to operate. They are also quieter so maybe can cope better with natural snow conditions. Either way, I just don’t think it is a sustainable practice to rely so heavily on producing extra artificial snow when maybe a bigger trend of changing the timings of a ski season might work better, in the long run, to play better to natural conditions.
For those who haven’t experienced it, artificial snow is an adequate substitute for the real thing but isn’t as good by a long way! It often feels like skiing through houmous, really heavy and wet, and doesn’t stick together in the same way as real snow does. I think given the choice I probably would rather chase good real snow, even if it means going further afield these days.
What do you think about artificial snow? Have you grown up riding in MK snowdome or do you live for the real deal? Leave your thoughts below!