Pas question ici de s’équiper de réfrigérateurs géants pour faire durer l’or blanc. Une matière 100% naturelle et régionale suffit largement : en couvrant la neige de sciure, elle résiste à la chaleur et peut se conserver de longs mois.
C’est la technique du snowfarming.
Only manmade snow is stored!
It is easier to compact for optimum conservation.
In Bessans, between February and April 2020, more than 10,000 m3 of snow were stored near the biathlon stadium. This shaded location was chosen for its naturally cold environment and because it is close to the sector where the snow will be re-used. The site was tried and tested as a storage site in 2018 when the snowfarming process was launched, after being under study for more than 10 years at Bessans, in Haute Maurienne Vanoise!
So since 2018, Bessans has been among the earliest-opening ski resorts in France, with a cross-country trail of at least 2km already accessible in autumn. Cross-country fans, skate-skiers and biathletes, take note, along with anyone else keen to get back on their skis as soon as possible, even for last winter’s snow!
• 20,000 m3: the volume of snow stored in Bessans between February and April 2022
• 4,000: the number of days booked by the professional cross-country skiing and biathlon teams (including the French team) from 7 November to 15 December 2020 in Bessans
• 30 to 50 cm: the thickness of sawdust covering the snow pile
• 23%: the estimated melt during the storage period
• 1 week: the working time to remove the sawdust and prepare the track.
• 3 km: the minimum length of the run open from 5 November 2022. The snow guns then allow the length of the run to be increased rapidly.
