How Banff Sunshine Ski Resort Farms Snow – COOL HUNTING®

While many ski resorts rely on machines to create artificial snow to pad popular trails and keep areas open for business longer, Sunshine Village Ski Resort in Alberta, Canada (also known as Banff Sunshine) utilizes a clever, sustainable technique called snow farming. The resort sets up miles of fencing above the tree line to capture the vast amounts of snow that the wind blows in. Staff then spreads this reserve snow throughout the areas where it’s needed. Banff Sunshine—one of the earliest pioneers of snow farming and one of the largest operations—is uniquely suited to the technique, as its location has only limited access to water (which is, of course, required to make snow). Farming what is naturally produced allows the resort to eliminate the need for excess water and electricity used by snow machines. Learn more about the technique at Smithsonian Magazine.

Image courtesy of Sunshine Village Ski Resort