A snowball's chance in hell: Nova Scotia ski hill defies nature
Ski Martock in Nova Scotia is attempting a massive feat of snow preservation, covering 18,000 cubic metres of it with a specialized tarp to protect it from the summer heat. We have more on the ambitious project.
The grass is green, temperatures are warming, but there is still 18,000 cubic metres of snow sitting under a tarp in the middle of the hill at Ski Martock in Nova Scotia.
And, staff are hoping it will survive the heat of the summer with the help of a heap of sawdust, so it will be around for the next ski season. Well, at least half of it. Owner Martin Kejval estimates about 50 per cent of it will melt before winter returns.
Snow preservation on this scale has never been done before in Atlantic Canada. The hill hired a European company to design the snow storage layout.
The pile of snow being saved at Ski Martock in Windsor Forks, N.S. (Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
Kejval says it’s not rocket science.
“You [probably] remember your grandmother or your grandfather storing ice in the shed. Before, it was with sawdust,” said Kejval.
The tarp itself is not made of plastic. It’s an insulation that breathes so if moisture gets in, it can get back out.
“This is a tarp that’s been used over the years to protect glaciers in Europe. So, its purpose and its design is obviously to reflect sunlight, to insulate, and then also allow the snow underneath to breathe, as well, almost like a goretex or a higher tech fabric," said Kejval.
With an abundance of snow this past winter, skiing got started at Ski Martock on Jan. 12, and the hill got in more than 100 days of operation for the first time in a decade.
Could Ski Martock beat that next winter with an early start? Only time will tell.