SKIWELT/AUSTRIA: NEW SNOW MEASURING SYSTEM

65 snow grooming machines are busy night after night in the SkiWelt, making sure the slopes are always in perfect condition. Every ski run in the SkiWelt is groomed every night, usually with a winch to make it even more beautiful and sometimes even twice a night if it starts to snow. For winter 2017-18, all of these machines have been equipped with an ingenious slope snow measuring system. Having snow groomers that can measure by GPS the precise depth of the snow allows the SkiWelt professionals to work on the slopes with even more accuracy. This also means a reduction in the amount of manmade snow required for full coverage. Once again, the SkiWelt is setting new standards with its magnitude and investing over 500,000 euros for the environment in a sustainable way. 

A GPS system is installed in the grooming machines. They can measure the original terrain and the snow depth (deviation only approx. 3-5 cm). A precise record of the original site in summer forms the basis for this. The built-in measuring device determines the snow’s depth through the difference in the figures. Operators of the snow groomers can read the depth of the snow that lies beneath them instantly on the display. The data can also be presented graphically and printed as a map with snow depths – areas with poorer snow coverage or snow deposits can therefore be identified straight away.

The new snow depth measuring system is a major contribution to resource-saving snow management. It is about producing snow in a more efficient, cost-effective and resource-saving way; this investment is another key component in the SkiWelt’s energy-saving management of its snow. The SkiWelt’s snow management features state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment, 15 nearly natural snow reservoirs and now snow depth measuring. “The aim is to have an evenly distributed, compact layer of snow on the slopes - and preferably nowhere with too much or too little snow. For our visitors this means perfectly groomed, snow-covered runs until 8 April 2018,” said Walter Eisenmann, CEO of SkiWelt Söll

You take:

• The SkiWelt’s professional snowmaking team 
• The most technically advanced and efficient snow guns 
• Water of drinking water quality from our 15 snowmaking lakes, which fill up automatically in summer 
• 100 % green electricity produced by the Tyrolean hydropower company (Tiroler Wasserkraft)
• Suitable temperatures in which the humidity also plays a major role

… and you get manufactured snow, which will eventually melt back into nature’s water cycle. Visit the SkiWelt in spring. The meadows are colourful with a rich variety of rare plants and have always been used by our farmers as pasture for their cattle.