25. July 2018

How is artificial snow made?

HOW DOES A SNOWMAKING SYSTEM WORK?

As soon as the winter season approaches, we look spellbound at the weather forecast. When will the first snow come? Is it cold enough that the snow also remains? Are the conditions right for artificial snowmaking? It can often be a bit of a race against time to make sure all the slopes and parks are prepared for you in time. But how does a snowmaking system actually work? We will gladly reveal this to you on the basis of our Gasti snow park.

THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR ARTIFICIAL/TECHNICAL SNOWMAKING

Artificial snow wants to – and should – imitate natural snow. The system sprays the finest water droplets into the cold winter air. A part evaporates and extracts heat from the environment. This allows the other part to freeze and fall to the ground as small ice crystals – artificial snow is created. In fact, it only needs water and air. So artificial snow has absolutely nothing to do with chemicals or unnecessary environmental pollution. Since technical aids are used, we now also like to speak of “technical snow”, as this term clears up any misunderstandings.

To produce technical snow, water is finely atomized in the nozzles of snow cannons and snow lances and flung out. In order for the heat extraction process described above to work efficiently, the air temperature must not exceed max. -4 °C and the water temperature max. +2 °C. At the same time, the humidity must be below 80%. In other words, the drier the air is and the cooler the water and air are, the better the production of technical snow works.

TECHNICAL SNOWMAKING IN OUR KIDS PARK IN DORFGASTEIN

Many years ago, the Ski School Dorfgastein invested in its own snowmaking system to ensure a punctual start to the season. Thanks to modern snow lances from the Swiss company Bächler, we can start making snow for our children’s area as early as November. The energy-efficient snow lance system is one of the quietest snow guns in the world. The new nozzle technology consumes significantly less compressed air, copes with high water temperatures without any problems, and can start producing snow as early as 2 °C earlier. This means that within six days there is already enough technical snow for the entire Gasti snow park – ideal if things get tight.

With the best piste and snow conditions, it’s not just kids who feel right at home at the Ski School Dorfgastein Holleis. Have you become curious? Book your ski course and get the all-round carefree package for fun on the slopes in the Dorfgastein-Großarltal ski area!

Newsletter Signup

Sign up for our newsletter now and receive all the latest news straight to your inbox. Guaranteed no spam!

Warenkorb
Kontakt

This website uses cookies
We use cookies to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features, and to analyze traffic to our website. We also share information about your use of our website with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Our partners may combine this information with other data that you have provided to them or that have been collected as part of your use of the Services.

Data protection
This website uses cookies so that we can offer you the best possible user experience. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

Marketing & Statistics
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site and the most popular pages. Leave this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Google Tag Manager
This is a tag management system. Using the Google Tag Manager, tags can be integrated centrally via a user interface. Tags are small pieces of code that represent activitiescan track. Script codes from other tools are integrated via the Google Tag Manager. The Tag Manager makes it possible to control when a specific tag is triggered.