Safeguarding winter sports tourism as a source of income with reliable snowmaking systems
Especially in mountain regions in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Canada and the USA, snow reliability is synonymous with planning security for the main source of income - winter sports tourism. No snow - no slope operation with mountain railroads - no turnover in the hotel and restaurant industry.
Even winter sports events planned well in advance, such as the Winter Olympics, are inconceivable without reliable, consistent snow conditions.
Due to changes in the climate, natural snow reliability can no longer be guaranteed with absolute certainty in many ski resorts, especially in the months from November to January. Areas of the slopes are artificially snowed with the help of snowmaking systems.
Outside of this scenario, basic snowmaking makes sense on heavily used slopes or sections that are strongly influenced by the weather (sun, wind): The applied technical snow provides mechanical protection for the vegetation.
Indoor halls can also become a winter sports paradise with the right indoor snowmaking system.
According to Wikipedia, snowmaking was first tested in North America in the middle of the last century. In the Alps, the first snowmaking systems with lance systems went into operation around 1970.
With portable snow cannons (propeller cannons or compressed air cannons), the operator is flexible and can efficiently provide targeted technical snow on existing slopes at winter temperatures, thus ensuring a continuous snow cover.
But: No snow without water! The snow cannon hose or snowmaking hose is a high-pressure-resistant, flexible, woven flat hose that has a good grip on snow, is hard-wearing and supplies snowmaking water.
Unlike rigidly laid snow lines, GH snowmaking hoses are flexible - despite the cold, making them ideal for delivering water to portable snow guns and snowmaking equipment.
Since snowmaking hoses are only laid on the surface, there is no need to dig at the edge of the slope for the water supply. Thus, the risk of erosion and washout during heavy rainfall is lower than with rigidly laid lines.
A supply hose for snow cannons is exposed to specific conditions such as cold, harsh environment, high pressure in continuous operation as well as UV and ozone radiation.
These requirements led to the development of the GH SNOWBLAST - our reliable snow cannon hose.
Hose fitting:
Compressed with TÜV approved Lüdecke Snow Master couplings.
| Hose | Abrasion resistance | Pressure | Flexibility at low temperatures |
|---|---|---|---|
We are happy to answer questions and send you your hose sample without obligation!
To produce technical snow are necessary water and energy. Additives are not used. The water supplied to the snowmaking system should be colder than 2 degrees Celsius, the air temperature colder than -2 degrees Celsius and the humidity should be less than 80%. If these parameters are correct, technical snowmaking can start: the snowmaking water is atomized under pressure and propelled into the air. When it falls, snow crystals are formed by freezing.
Of course, the investment costs for a system and the annual operating costs for maintenance and operating resources have an impact. The German Ski Association states that the annual maintenance costs of approx. 35,000 € / kilometer of snow-covered slopes are lower than the loss of tourism due to lack of snow.
Snow produced with the help of snow guns is technical snow. It is commonly referred to as "artificial snow" and consists - like natural snow - of water and air.
Depending on the temperature, width of the slope, amount of snow required, gradient or wind situation, snow cannons or snow lances are suitable. With both systems, snow production is the same - but there are differences in operating costs and the amount of snow produced.
