HawksleyMatrix2Post

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**The Problem**
The first snowmaking machine was invented in 1950 and commercial snowmaking became popular in the 1970’s as a way to supplement natural snowfall and make snow conditions more reliable for recreational skiing. (9) Since then ski resorts around the world have come to depend on this technology to extend the winter tourism season and provide consistency for users. With the onset of global warming, ski areas are relying on snowmaking more than ever before and a report from the International Mountain Society states that, “Above all, the competitive economic pressure between ski resorts fosters the advance of snowmaking: first, the winter sport industry hopes to become more independent of meteorological conditions. Second, to optimize the utilization of high-tech ski lifts with high fixed costs, the ski season needs to be assured and extended to late autumn and early winter. “(2)

“Today snowmaking can guarantee snow reliability at elevations above 1000 m (December to February) for 90% of all winters. In a +2°C climate scenario current snowmaking intensity will not be sufficient below 1500–1600 m .”(2) This means that snowmaking will only increase as time goes on and it is unknown what effects pushing the limits of this technology will have on our environment.

Snowmaking is allowing resorts to push the winter season to start sooner and sooner each year. It is common for mountains to start making snow at the beginning of November or even the end of October, as early as conditions allow for it. An article about snowmaking this year at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine states, " Snowmakers plan to take advantage of any windows of favorable snowmaking temperatures (5 hours of 25 degrees or lower) in order to prepare the mountain for its scheduled opening date of Friday, November 18."(10) Some smaller ski areas depend entirely on artificial snow, which can be seen from the following interview commentary about Black Mountain Ski Resort in Maine. The article stated that, " the snow-making crew made twice as much snow than they have in past winters. “Without it, we wouldn't have any trails open at all,” he said."(5) Ski resorts are also making increasingly larger terrain parks to accommodate snowboarders, which entails hugs mounds of snow often made entirely of artificial snow. Now there are even indoor skiing areas that make snow in enormous air conditioned building in areas that cannot sustain snow, which is very unsustainable when considering all of the energy required to create such a place.

The water consumption and energy used for modern snowmaking is a sustainability problem. According to a group of researchers looking into winter tourism and climate change in the Alps, “…the energy required for the production of 1 m3 of snow ranges between 1.5 and 9 kWh (or between 5000 and 27,000 kWh for 1 ha with 30 cm of artificial snow). The water consumption for the production of 1 m3 of snow ranges between 200 and 500 L (or between 600,000 and 1,500,000 L for 1 ha with 30 cm of artificial snow). ” (1) A research project done my University of Michigan students examined the environmental impacts at Boyne Mountain Resort in Michigan and found that, “Snowmaking is done 24 hours a day when conditions permit. Boyne management estimates snowmaking runs 800 to 900 hours per season. We [researchers] estimate power usage by the snow guns alone of approximately 1 million kWhs of power per season. ”(4) This is a lot of energy and water being used for recreation when we need to be concerned with conservation and sustainability to ensure protection of our environment. " If a slope uses compressed air in its snow guns, it has to provide a lot of energy to run the large air-compressing pumps. It also needs a pump system to provide the water to the snow makers. These pumps are often run by diesel engines, which expel a high level of air pollution."(6)

Snowmaking can have detrimental effects on local wildlife and vegetation. In his professional paper towards his Master’s degree in forestry, Bikram Kumar Niraula referenced research done by Coconino National Forest that stated, “Nighttime noise from pumping facilities and snowmaking guns, and use of light may have substantial impacts on resting and hunting behaviors of some wildlife species and may result in total displacement or extended elimination of wildlife from those areas.” (3) Artificial snow is denser and has a higher water content that natural snow, so it takes longer to melt in the spring. “This late snow run off and late use by vegetation may cause green vegetation to persist into later in the spring season, which may lead to having lesser amounts of forage ready for insects, birds and other wild animals in the spring” (3)

Stakeholders
The stakeholders in this issue include all people residing near a ski resort, individuals who participate in winter tourism, and the large companies that own these resorts. The business of winter tourism is very profitable and many people enjoy the recreational activities that revolve around snowmaking. These activities have become a part of our society and it would be very difficult to eliminate the problem all together.

Solutions
One temporary solution is to use more efficient snow guns to reduce impact, as demonstrated by research at Boyne Mountain; “The continued upgrading of snow guns to Low-E guns will cut electricity usage by 30% and water usage by 20% per gun. ”(4) Mt. Abram in Maine boasts that, "Our Low Energy Snowmaking Project, implemented prior to the 2010 ski season through our Low Energy Snow Guns, reduced annual ski area kW usage from 450,000 to 271,000, while simultaneously reducing 43,000 gallons of burned air-compressor diesel."(8) A group called Ski Area Citizen's Coalition is grading ski areas on their sustainability in hopes that environmentally minded skiers will choose mountains with better grades and put pressure on the others. They grade using the following: " The Ski Area Environmental Scorecard strives to differentiate between those ski areas that truly engage in environmentally sound practices versus those that merely claim to do so."(7) A solution that can help reduce the use of snowmaking is creating terrain parks out of dirt before the season starts and just covering them in snow. Overall, it is best to rely on natural snow and to not build ski resorts in areas that cannot naturally sustain snow cover.

References: Text
1. Rixen, Christian, Michaela Teich, CorinaLardelli, David Gallati, Mandy Pohl, Marco Pütz, and Peter Bebi. "Winter Tourism and Climate Change in the Alps: An Assessment of Resource Consumption, Snow Reliability, and Future Snowmaking Potential." Mountain Research and Development 31.3 (2011): 229-36. Rep. International Mountain Society, July 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. [|http][|://][|www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-10-00112.1] 2. Steiger, Robert, and Marius Mayer. ”Snowmaking and Climate Change.” Mountain Research and Development28.3 (2008):292-298. Rep. International Mountain Society, Aug. 2008. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. [|http][|://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/mrd.0978?prevSearch=%5Bkeyword%3A+snowmaking%5D&searchHistoryKey=&][|queryHash=1a2848c7b29064d6add9c7abe4a8cc3b] 3. Niraula, Bikram Kumar. "Ecosystem Impacts of Artificial Snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl | Forestrynepal." Thesis. Northern Arizona University, 2006. Ecosystem Impacts of Artificial Snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl. May 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. [] 4. Bruski, Eric, LeonoreHijazi, Lauren Hoffman, Laurel Martin, Geoff Michael, and Imogen Taylor. "Boyne Mountain Environmental Sustainability Plan." Thesis. University of Michigan, 2009. Deep Blue. University of Michigan Library. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. [|http://][|hdl.handle.net/2027.42/62106] 5.[|http][|://www.sunjournal.com/node/802624]  6. [] 7. [|http://][|www.skiareacitizens.com/index.php?nav=how_we_grade] 8. [|http://www.mtabram.com/green-initiatives][|/] 9. []  10. []

Annotations
NUMBER 1: 1. Steiger, Robert, and Marius Mayer. ”Snowmaking and Climate Change.” Mountain Research and Development28.3 (2008):292-298. Rep. International Mountain Society, Aug. 2008. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. [|http][|://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/mrd.0978?prevSearch=%5Bkeyword%3A+snowmaking%5D&searchHistoryKey=&] [|queryHash=1a2848c7b29064d6add9c7abe4a8cc3b] 2. Author Steiger is a Scientific Assistant in the Institute of Geography at the Universität Innsbruck in Innsbruck, Austria. Steiger has also written about and given a presentation on "Vulnerability and Adaptation of Winter Tourism in Tyroland Bavaria." Author Mayer is a Scientific Assistant in the Institute of Geography at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in Wurzburg, Germany. Mayer has also co-authored a paper entitled, "From Conflict to Partnership? Interactions between Protected Areas, Local Communities and Operators of Tourism Enterprises in Two German National Park Regions."

3. The main topic of this text is to analyze the snowmaking process, why it is becoming more popular, and determine whether or not snowmaking can adapt to keep up with the need for increased snow production as climate change occurs.

4.This topic is fleshed out in several ways. The report examines the factors that influence snowmaking, analyzes capacity of snowmaking with current techniques, and looks into the climatic potential for snowmaking. A combination of research data from different ski areas in Europe are used to supplement this topic.

5. The following three quotes capture the critical import of the text: "Wolfsegger et al (2008) have shown that snowmaking is the dominant strategy of ski area managers for coping with projected climate change."

"The driving force is the operators' and guests' pursuit of snow guarantee on schedule, which is in turn determined by two background variables: the competition of ski resorts to outperform each other and the global tourist trend of man-made attractions, which demands a guarantee of variables such as snow or sun."

"Climatic conditions will not be the primary limitation to snowmaking, at least not with a temperature rise of 2°C. The problem ski resorts will have to face over the next decades is the rising cost of snowmaking."

6. The evidence in the text supports my research focus because it analyzes the current state of snowmaking and where it is going in the future. This text provides good statistics based on research findings that were helpful in supporting my argument.

7. Two details from the text that I used included a statement about why snowmaking continues to advance and is used increasingly more, along with a research finding that suggested the elevation able to sustain snowmaking will raised in the future due to climate change.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">NUMBER 2: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Niraula, Bikram Kumar. "Ecosystem Impacts of Artificial Snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl | Forestrynepal." Thesis. Northern Arizona University, 2006. Ecosystem Impacts of Artificial Snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl. May 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">[] <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">2. Author Niraula was a student at Northern Arizona University when he wrote this professional paper for his Master's degree in Forestry. There is no further information about his career or credentials. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">3. The main topic of this text was to explore the ecosystem impacts of snowmaking in the Arizona Snowbowl region. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">4. The topic is fleshed out by investigating the current use of snowmaking in the Arizona Snowbowl, exploring the effect that using treated wastewater for snowmaking has on vegetation and wildlife, and providing possible solution to help mitigate the problem. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">5.The following three quotes capture the critical import of the text: <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">"The Arizona Snowbowl’s existence fully depends upon sufficient snow for skiing purposes and that cannot be fulfilled by natural snowfall alone. The annual visits to the ski area have increased by one hundred fifty seven (157) percent in the past 20 years." <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">"...artificial snow may affect the foraging behaviors of animals because it takes longer to melt compared to natural snow, which may delay the appearance of forage during the time of snowmaking and application in the spring season." "To lessen the impact of man-made snow on the Arizona Snowbowl ecosystem, the nutrient content, various chemical compounds and pH levels in the reclaimed water should be kept the same as that in rain or natural snowmelt water through chemical treatment."

6. The evidence provided in this text supports my research focus because it presents environmental considerations of snowmaking. The author provides information about the impact on vegetation and wildlife specifically in the Snowbowl of Arizona, which was helpful in supporting my argument.

7. Two details from this text that I used in my post include a piece of the text that stated the noise and light associated with snowmaking can affect the behaviors of certain wildlife, and a statement about how late snow melt caused by snowmaking can affect the growth of vegetation in the area, which alters the ecosystem.

NUMBER 3: 1.Bruski, Eric, Leonore Hijazi, Lauren Hoffman, Laurel Martin, Geoff Michael, and Imogen Taylor. "Boyne Mountain Environmental Sustainability Plan." Thesis. University of Michigan, 2009. Deep Blue. University of Michigan Library. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">[|http://][|hdl.handle.net/2027.42/62106] 2. The authors of this academic paper were graduate students in the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan when they wrote this paper. Bruski has a background in Environmental Science and years of ski and snowboard experience. Hijazi volunteered in the Peace Corps in West Africe as an Environmental Action Agent. Hoffman has a background in resource ecology and management and has worked as a ski instructor. Martin graduate Summa Cum Laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Economics and enjoys skiing. Michael graduated Summa Cum Laude from Eastern Michigan University with a B.S. in Biology and is interested in making business be environmentally sustainable. Taylor has had a life long passion for environmental issues and is pursuing a M.S. in Sustainable Systems.

3. The main topic of this text is analyzing the sustainability of the current procedures at Boyne Mountain in Michigan and creating a plan for them to implement in order to improve their sustainability based on successful techniques used at other resorts. A detailed analysis of every aspect of the resort is conducted.

4. The main topic is fleshed out by figuring out what Boyne Mountain is doing right now and comparing these methods to the best practices available. The impact of snowmaking, chair lifts, and well pumps are examined and a cost analysis is done for sustainable solutions. Recommendations are made that can feasibly be implemented by Boyne to increase its sustainability.

5. The following three quotes capture the critical import of the text: "External pressures on the resort industry come from environmentalists, pending federal climate change legislation, the potential for more stringent regulation by the United States Forestry Service (USFS), and customers interested in promoting eco- or sustainable tourism."

"Like many ski areas, Boyne uses snowmaking to bringan earlier opening day, extend its season into the spring, and to improve the quality of its customers’ skiing or snowboarding experience. When conditions are good for making snow, Boyne Mountain runs about 115 snow guns."

"Resorts have serious negative environmental impacts, from waste generation to energy consumption to natural habitat degradation; however, these impacts can be mitigated through concerted actions to improve."

6. The information provided in this text goes far beyond just snowmaking, but there is substantial evidence provided about snowmaking at Boyne Mountain that supports my research focus. Useful statistics are provided about water and energy used to make snow, and recommendations are made about ways Boyne can make their snowmaking more sustainable.

7. Two details from this text that I used in my post include estimates made about how many hours snow guns operate per season and the approximate energy used as a result, as well as information gathered about what the potential water and energy savings would be if Low-E snow guns were used.

References: Images
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. Snowmaking in Fall: [|http][|://www.easternslopes.com/2010/10/10/testing-testing-sunday-river-fires-up-snowmaking-system-test-for-2010-11-season/] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2. Spraying snow: [] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3. Snow gun: [] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">4. River: [|http://][|www.redbubble.com/people/rhody53/works/316052-carrabassett-river-maine] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">5. Indoor skiing: [] <span style="background-color: initial; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">6. Terrain park: []