Summer Snow in Nevada
Nevada's Sky Tavern ski area has become the latest in a growing number worldwide to try an all-weather using snowmaking machine to make snow in summer.
There's currently nowhere open to ski snow in North America unless you hike up the summer terrain park at Copper Mountain or head indoors to Big Snow in New Jersey.
However, Nevada's Sky Tavern ski area has become the latest in a growing number worldwide to try using snowmaker TechnoAlpin's highly successful SnowFactory machines to make snow in summer. Unlike conventional snowmaking machines these make snow within refrigerated chambers before spraying the ready made snow out onto the slopes.
Sky Tavern's summer snow was reportedly used for snowman building and snowplay rather than skiing.
SnowFactories are proving increasingly popular at ski areas worldwide to guarantee at least some snow as the climate warms, particularly at the ends of the seasons or in areas where snow cover has become less predictable.
Australia's Mt Buller is believed to run more machines than any resorts, with a fifth going into service this winter and certainly proving its value with the challenging conditions experienced in the country this winter. Almost all of Scotland's centres also run the machines, often enabling them to stay open when natural cover is too thin and its too mild for conventional snowmaking.
