SNOW CULTURE  

Why and how is snowmaking used?

During the winter, a system sucks the water from previously identified sources and send it into the snow guns in order to create snow culture. Once the winter season is over, the snow melts and is entirely restituted (by evaporation or infiltration) in its natural habitat. Thus, we don’t talk about water consumption but water extraction.  

Snow culture maintains the ski economy, bearer of 120 000 employments in the french resorts. Essentially, we use it to create a 30 to 50cm high snow undercoat at the beginning and the end of the season.

The "juste neige (just snow)" stategy

In recent years, technical progress on the artificial snow network has enabled us to optimize production while saving water resources and electricity consumption.

In La Rosière, the snow culture network is rather recent. In 2002, the ski area implanted its 6 first snow guns on La Rosière's snow front. However, snowmaking first appeared in France in the 1960s!

This ‘just snow’ strategy consists of:

• Scrupulously defining the part of the ski area where artificial snow is needed: on the snow fronts at Les Eucherts and La Rosière, at Les Ecudets, and at the start of the Plan du Repos chairlift, for example. 
• Equipping the groomers with a real-time snow depth measurement tool (SNOWSAT software) to adjust our production of artificial snow to the natural snow cover of the terrain throughout the winter.

This makes it easier to get an even snow cover on the ski slopes, save fuel and avoid overproduction of artificial snow.

Where does La Rosière stand?

La Rosière Espace San Bernardo profits from one of the best snowfalls in the French Alps.83% of the Ski Area is situated above 1850m high. Nevertheless, it is important to secure the beginnings and the ends of winter seasons with modern snow culture equipment.

Since 2017, thanks to funding from the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region, major investments have been made in the snow network, including: 

• The improvement of the snow culture on snow front's beginner’s areas « Clarines », « Dahu » and
  « Lutins ». 
• Increase of the snow factory's power (600m3 of production instead of 400m3)
• Acquisition of 3 mono-fluide snow guns (the fan type) on towers on all snow fronts. 
• Change and modernization of the pole snow guns head. 
• Snow cover on top of the « Belette » slope. 
• Snow cover of the "Libellule" green slope and the "Papillon" blue slope.

For the La Rosière Ski Area, the priority is to secure the link with Italy and ensure the return to the resort with the help of artificial snow. There are 195 snow guns in the area.