While much of the snow has melted away at Ski Martock in Windsor Forks, N.S., a 19,000-cubic-metre pile remains.
It’s between 12 and 15 metres tall. Officials hope it will survive a Maritime summer, which will help them kick off an early start next season.
“I think it’s no secret this was quite a good winter, everybody keeps telling me this was one for the books,” says Ski Martock CEO Martin Kejval.
So, by next week, a massive tarp will cover the pile of snow to help keep the heat out — and the cold in.
“The people who we are working on this with are saying we will lose between 20 and 50 per cent this year,” he says.
Even if they lose 50 per cent, he says that will still be enough to open one route, Expressway, and the bunny hill.
Kejval realizes the model has been “untested” in this climate, but as snow storage becomes more popular, officials figured now is the time to try it.
“I’ve been following snow storage for as long as it’s been done,” says Andrew MacLean, Martock’s operations manager.
“I remember when it started. I think it was started in Finland and sort of spread through Scandinavia. It’s been done in Europe for a while,” he says.
“When it finally was done in Canada for the first time last summer at Sun Peaks in B.C., it was like, ‘Holy cow.’”
The European company that is supplying the tarp and consulting Martock has big hopes for the future
“It will be (an) interesting test, but I think if it works in Martock, I think it will work (at) other places in Canada,” says Michal Ritter, the owner and CEO of Czechia-based Snow Support.
“I think this is like a future trend.”
Another company in the industry, Snow Secure, says the idea behind snow storage is all about stability for ski hills.
“November and December have been really unpredictable over the last years,” says Antti Lauslahti, the company’s CEO. “So, the idea of having a secure date to start the ski resort is very, very important.”
So, while the idea is new to Canada, and specifically Nova Scotia, it’s becoming more popular.
“It’s been around for a while, and it’s evolved as a practice, as something that the outcome is a positive one in all the cases that I’ve looked at,” says MacLean. “It sounds weird, but it’s super cool.”
Kejval understands there may be doubters out there.
“For people who say, ‘This is Looney Tunes, this is crazy,’ you know, your grandmother did it when she stored ice over the wintertime,” he says. “So, it’s not that wild and that crazy as we would want to think.”
Still, no one knows for sure what will happen here.
“We can end up here with a massive puddle in the summer or fall,” admits Kejval.
“But everybody keeps telling me that’s not the case, so, (cross) your fingers.”
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