As global temperatures rise and snow conditions become more variable, ski resorts around the world are looking for answers. How do you ensure open slopes and skiable terrain without the guarantee of natural snowfall or even cold temperatures, particularly in the early season? The opening weeks of winter — between Thanksgiving and Christmas — are of paramount importance to the ski industry, as during this period potential visitors have large amounts of free time which they could potentially spend on the mountain. However, this time frame is also among the most climatically volatile. As such, resorts are searching for ways to ensure weather-independent early openings. One promising solution that is making its way to American resorts from Europe is snow farming. Snow farming is the simple concept of storing snow from the previous season through the summer, to be used at the onset of the following winter — it’s snow recycling if you will.
Modern summer snow storage, or snow farming, started at Ruka, Finland, during the early 2000s. According to Ruka’s website, in 2002, the resort successfully preserved enough snow — by packing it tightly and covering it in sawdust through summer — to open a small-scale early-season ski track. In the following decades, resorts around Europe began implementing an improved version of the technique devised at Ruka: covering snow in accordion-like white insulation panels, which keep snow temperatures low enough to preserve an astounding 80% of harvested snow through the heat of summer. As of this past winter, it appears that the practice has made its way to the rest of the world, and particularly the United States.
In 2025, Bogus Basin, a community-owned ski area near Boise, Idaho, became the first major resort in the U.S. to attempt snow farming. While the central Idaho mountain may not seem like an ideal place for snow preservation given its blistering summer temperatures and sun-exposed south-facing terrain, it was nonetheless able to retain 11 acre feet, or the equivalent of 6 Olympic swimming pools worth of snow. That was enough for the ski area to open a 300-foot run on November 29, 2025, a feat made more impressive given the American West’s abysmal start to the winter season. Going forward, Bogus Basin has made it clear that it will stay committed to snow farming, having recently invested nearly quadrupling its 2025 snow storage capacity to 40 acre feet.
As ski resorts continue to grapple with increasingly unpredictable winters, snow farming could soon become a widespread practice in North America. Though the technique has been around for nearly a quarter century and is wide-spread in Europe, its implementation stateside is still small-scale and very recent. Nonetheless, Bogus Basin’s adoption of the technology in a warm and sunny climate is evidence that snow farming can work in the American West. Several other mountains in the U.S., including ski areas under the Boyne Resorts group, are already strongly considering following in Bogus Basin’s footsteps. Hopefully snow farming sees continued success in the United States and around the world—as the practice is far greener than traditional snowmaking, and could soon be of just as much importance to the ever-adapting modern ski industry.
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