Snow sliding sports at the nation’s southernmost major ski area, Ski Apache near Ruidoso in south-central New Mexico, just got a big bump in security. The Finnish-based company Snow Secure is moving forward with an exciting plan. They’re bringing its patented technology to the ski area, which will ensure the ski area can open far earlier every season and have a dependable base on select runs to operate the entire season.
Insulated Blanket System
Snow Secure provides an insulation system of white polystyrene blankets that shield snow from summer sunlight and heat. The snow is collected in large snaking piles in late spring on select runs and then covered. The material protects 80 to 90 percent of the stored snow. Then in late fall, the saved snow is spread on the runs. Voila—instant skiable slopes.
Predictable Season & Earlier Openings
The system’s use is particularly key to predictable and earlier openings. Both key factors in a world with declining snowfall and shrinking winters. It also provides huge savings in energy and water needed to make snow, though additional energy is required to gather and then disperse the saved snow. The insulation blanket material is projected to have a 10 to 20-year lifespan.
Sounds like wacky and questionable quality snow? Not so say a handful of major European ski areas already employing the process as part of their snow farming—including areas in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Italy, as well as Sun Peaks in British Columbia, Tyrol Basin in Wisconsin and Bogus Basin in Idaho.
Awarded “Invention of the Year” by Time
On October 9, Time magazine announced the Snow Secure system as one of the “Best inventions of the year,” recognizing the company’s pioneering snow storage technology.
First in U.S.
Photo by Daniel Gibson
Ski Apache was actually the first U.S. area to get on board with Snow Secure and was set to roll out the white carpet this season, but extremely low snowfall last winter pushed its program back by a year. “We hope to have it functioning for the 2026-27 season,” says the company’s CEO and North American director, Antti Lauslahti. “We foresee a great future with Ski Apache. It’s a fabulous mountain and a perfect candidate for our system.”
He says they expect to save 8 acre-feet of snow at Ski Apache. That’s a volume of snow one foot deep covering 8 acres or also expressed as 10,000 cubic meters!
Lauslahti has a deep personal bond to New Mexico and has based the company’s U.S. headquarters in Santa Fe. “I have a soft spot for New Mexico… [and] was a high school exchange student there and used to frequent Ski Santa Fe and Taos Ski Valley. I love the state, its people, its terrain, and all the chile I can eat! I also love the fact we will be helping one of the two ski areas in the United States owned by an Indian tribe (the Mescalero Apache) stay afloat in a warming world.”
This is WILD! Such a cool concept to save some snow YOY. I hope we get a few Tahoe resorts to adopt this new tech.