German ski resort stores snow under wood chip carpet

The southern German town of Oberstdorf, which has hosted several Nordic World Ski Championships, is trying out this method of conserving snow for the first time and hopes to use it to begin covering the trails before the first snowfall. The snow is covered in a layer of wood chips about 50 centimetres (20 inches)thick, explains Florian Speigl, manager of the town's Nordic Center.

Underneath a large pile of wood chips at a German ski resort in the Alps lies an unseasonable surprise: snow, packed away in preparation for the cross-country season. The southern German town of Oberstdorf, which has hosted several Nordic World Ski Championships, is trying out this method of conserving snow for the first time and hopes to use it to begin covering the trails before the first snowfall.

The snow is covered in a layer of wood chips about 50 centimetres (20 inches)thick, explains Florian Speigl, manager of the town's Nordic Center. The chips ensure there is no air exchange and they absorb any rain, which then creates a cooling effect through evaporation when the weather turns dry again, he said. "The athletes who train the entire summer on skis on wheels lose the feeling for cross-country skiing," said Speigl, which is why the centre aims to get them on snow sooner rather than later.

"We have this snow storage to bridge the time until artificial snow is made and a cross-country ski trail is ready to be used. This takes several weeks so we bridge the time with that snow." Speigl estimates the snow volume decreases by about 20% or 25% but added that the centre was still gathering evidence about the method, which has been tested in Italy and Switzerland.

 

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