Ski resorts have been dogged by "no snow" years throughout the 60's, 70's and 1980's, and so
bad snow years are no new phenomena. However times have changed and artificial snow has allowed ski resorts to boost their base layers and keep the pistes topped up all season long.
The "bad snow years" are therefore not noticed so much anymore, and things often look exactly the same above 1500 metres in a mild winter if the resort has adequate canon cover which is deemed 40 to 50% of their terrain. As an example, high altitude ski resorts with good canon cover (such as Tignes) didnt get noticeably affected in our last "bad snow year" which was 3 years ago. To play it safe then most French ski resorts have this kind of cover in place
A popular Protein
Artificial or "canoned snow" is also denser than the real thing and so it lasts longer too. Added to the mix is a component known as "Snowmax" which is a protein that provides a nucleate for ice crystals enabling freezing at temperatures around -2 to 3C. In other words it allows canons to create snow in warmer conditions. York International say that Snomax is completely safe.
Interesting Fact - it takes 1 metre cubed of water to make 2 metres cubed of snow!
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