admin
As climate change continues to challenge the reliability of snow seasons across the globe, Sun Peaks Resort is taking a distinctly European approach to preservation with Snow Blanket Tech.
Sun Peaks, nestled in the Interior mountains near Kamloops, has become the first in Canada to deploy giant insulated snow blankets to shield harvested snow from summer heat. The technology, developed by Finnish company Snow Secure, is widely used in European resorts and is now making its North American debut as operators look for creative ways to counter warming winters.
The system is as practical as it is innovative: crews stockpile snow at high altitudes in late winter, then cover it with 300-foot-long insulated mats made of extruded polystyrene. The result? Even under 30°C summer sun, as much as 80% of the snow is expected to remain intact. Come fall, the stored snow will be redistributed to form full ski runs—giving athletes a home base to train on months earlier than usual.
For Canadian ski cross racer Euan Currie, who usually travels to Europe each autumn for early-season conditions, the implications are huge. “It’s fantastic,” he told CBC. “We can stay home and save some money… Earlier ski times equals more winning.”
His father, Duncan Currie, is Sun Peaks’ operations director and one of the leads on the snow blanket rollout. Each individual mat, he says, protects an area roughly equivalent to four football fields. Though the resort invested $180,000 into the project, Currie sees it as a long-term bet on sustainability and reliability.
“In years like this, we need to adapt,” said Christina Antoniak, Sun Peaks’ communications director. “It gives us confidence to start the season early—and to say so publicly.”
That confidence is hard-won. According to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe, spring snowpack in B.C.’s southern Interior has declined by 20–40% since the 1970s, and projections suggest a further 10–40% loss by 2035. For ski areas dependent on predictability, the shift has been both financial and existential. Uncertainty drives away season pass holders, reduces revenue, and destabilizes operations.
Sun Peaks’ bold experiment suggests a future where technology—simple, scalable, and already proven abroad—can help preserve not just snow, but the sport itself.
As more resorts across North America grapple with climate volatility, Sun Peaks might just be blazing a new trail.
Ski The World!
Source: CBC
