Snow Storage in Nordic skiing: From physical drivers of snow loss to operational considerations

IF 3.8 2区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, CIVIL

Cold Regions Science and Technology Pub Date : 2025-09-06 DOI:10.1016/j.coldregions.2025.104678

Sondre Bergtun Auganæs , Erik Melin Söderström , Fabian Wolfsperger

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Reliable snow conditions are essential for Nordic skiing, but climate warming and the year-to-year climatic variability make both, natural snowfall and artificial snow production, increasingly unfavourable. To address this challenge and meet the growing demand for dependable skiing, many Nordic ski facilities have adopted snow storage, in which snow is preserved over the summer by covering it with insulating materials such as sawdust.

This study presents data from 37 snow storages with sawdust or geotextile covers. For the first time, an empirical model was parametrized to predict the volume loss of a sawdust covered snow storage. The observed range of snow losses (11.5 % to 32.5 %) could be explained well (R²_adj = 0.88) by the four influencing factors, cover thickness, total volume, surface area, and temperature. The findings indicated that besides applying adequate insultation covers, minimizing the surface-area-to-volume ratio and maximizing the storage volume, both effectively reduce snow loss. This means shaping the pile more like a hemisphere to reduce surface area and/or increasing its size.

Resource use and economic aspects of snow storage were examined to provide practical recommendations for improving efficiency and reducing costs. When combined with the snow loss analysis, the results indicate that sawdust layers thicker than 30 cm are not cost-effective, as the additional reduction in snow loss is too small to justify the higher material costs. The primary cost driver was snow transportation from storage to slopes and trails, highlighting the need for strategic storage placement within the slope and trail network to improve efficiency and reduce expenses. The findings offer practical recommendations for improving snow storage efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring reliable early-season skiing. Ultimately, this study contributes to the sustainability of Nordic skiing, helping to secure consistent snow availability for both recreational and competitive skiing in a more resource-efficient way.

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北欧滑雪中的雪储存：从雪损失的物理驱动因素到操作考虑

可靠的雪况对北欧滑雪至关重要，但气候变暖和每年的气候变化使得自然降雪和人工造雪越来越不利。为了应对这一挑战，满足人们对可靠滑雪日益增长的需求，许多北欧滑雪设施都采用了雪储存技术，在夏季用木屑等绝缘材料将雪保存起来。本研究提供了37个用木屑或土工织物覆盖的雪库的数据。首次建立了一个参数化的经验模型来预测木屑覆盖的雪库的体积损失。积雪损失（11.5% ~ 32.5%）的变化范围（R2adj = 0.88）可由覆盖厚度、总体积、表面积和温度4个影响因子解释。研究结果表明，除了采用适当的保温覆盖物，尽量减少表面积容积比，尽量增大储存量，都能有效地减少积雪损失。这意味着将桩塑造得更像一个半球，以减少表面积和/或增加其大小。研究了积雪储存的资源利用和经济方面，为提高效率和降低成本提供了切实可行的建议。结合积雪损失分析，结果表明，厚度超过30厘米的锯末层不具有成本效益，因为额外减少的积雪损失太小，不足以证明更高的材料成本。主要的成本驱动因素是将积雪从仓库运输到斜坡和步道，这突出了在斜坡和步道网络中战略性地放置积雪以提高效率和降低成本的必要性。研究结果为提高储雪效率、降低成本和确保可靠的早季滑雪提供了实用建议。最终，这项研究有助于北欧滑雪的可持续性，有助于以更有效的资源方式确保娱乐和竞技滑雪的持续可用性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cold Regions Science and Technology 工程技术-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

12.20%

发文量

209

审稿时长

4.9 months

期刊介绍： Cold Regions Science and Technology is an international journal dealing with the science and technical problems of cold environments in both the polar regions and more temperate locations. It includes fundamental aspects of cryospheric sciences which have applications for cold regions problems as well as engineering topics which relate to the cryosphere. Emphasis is given to applied science with broad coverage of the physical and mechanical aspects of ice (including glaciers and sea ice), snow and snow avalanches, ice-water systems, ice-bonded soils and permafrost. Relevant aspects of Earth science, materials science, offshore and river ice engineering are also of primary interest. These include icing of ships and structures as well as trafficability in cold environments. Technological advances for cold regions in research, development, and engineering practice are relevant to the journal. Theoretical papers must include a detailed discussion of the potential application of the theory to address cold regions problems. The journal serves a wide range of specialists, providing a medium for interdisciplinary communication and a convenient source of reference.