Ground Temperatures under Ski Pistes with Artificial and Natural Snow

Increasing production of artificial snow in ski resorts is controversially discussed, but only few investigations have been carried out systematically to specify the environmental impacts. We measured snow depth and density from groomed ski pistes (runs) with compacted snow and their effects on ground temperatures and timing of snowmelt. We analyzed groomed pistes with and without artificial snow (10 each) as well as adjacent ungroomed off-piste control plots beside the piste. On pistes with natural snow, the thin and compacted snow cover led to severe and long lasting seasonal soil frost. On pistes with artificial snow, soil frost occurred less frequently because of increased insulation due to the greater snow depth. However, due to the greater snow mass, the beginning of the snow-free season was delayed by more than 2 wk. Average winter ground temperatures under a continuous snow cover were decreased by approximately 1°C on both piste types compared with off-piste control plots. The results suggest that the heat balance of alpine soils is changed by both piste types, either by an extensive heat loss on pistes with natural snow or by prolonged snow cover on pistes with artificial snow. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2004)036[0419:GTUSPW]2.0.CO;2 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-62845 Published Version Originally published at: Rixen, C; Haeberli, W; Stoeckli, V (2004). Ground Temperatures under Ski Pistes with Artificial and Natural Snow. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 36(4):419-427. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2004)036[0419:GTUSPW]2.0.CO;2 Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2004, pp. 419–427 Ground Temperatures under Ski Pistes with Artificial and Natural Snow Christian Rixen* § Wilfried Haeberli and Veronika Stoeckli* *Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Flüelastrasse 11, 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland. §[email protected] Abstract Increasing production of artificial snow in ski resorts is controversially discussed, but only few investigations have been carried out systematically to specify the environmental impacts. We measured snow depth and density from groomed ski pistes (runs) with compacted snow and their effects on ground temperatures and timing of snowmelt. We analyzed groomed pistes with and without artificial snow (10 each) as well as adjacent ungroomed off-piste control plots beside the piste. On pistes with natural snow, the thin and compacted snow cover led to severe and long lasting seasonal soil frost. On pistes with artificial snow, soil frost occurred less frequently because of increased insulation due to the greater snow depth. However, due to the greater snow mass, the beginning of the snowfree season was delayed by more than 2 wk. Average winter ground temperatures under a continuous snow cover were decreased by approximately 18C on both piste types compared with off-piste control plots. The results suggest that the heat balance of alpine soils is changed by both piste types, either by an extensive heat loss on pistes with natural snow or by prolonged snow cover on pistes with artificial snow.