Snow is their business
A splendid panorama, snow-covered slopes as far as the eye can see, a deep blue sky. Happiness. Difficult then, to imagine the extraordinary grid which extends its invisible frame over the landscape, there, right under your skis. Kilometres of pipes and cable form an incredible underground network, which helps to ensure that everything runs smoothly, so to speak. A good part of this monumental yet discrete equipment is used for snow coverage. Both day and night, from the beginning of November, three men make it their business to see that all of the skiable estate of Les Menuires and Saint Martin is covered of snow.
A perfectly iced cocktail
Mix 2/3 water from Eschaux lake with 1/3 tap water, pump the mixture through tens of kilometres of piping, then mix with air then spray with gusto, using a canon of course. A tasty cocktail indeed and one which should be enjoyed without moderation. The recipe may appear somewhat simple, but the same cannot be said for its implementation.
Computerised snow
Yves Bonnefoy, in charge of artificial snow coverage: “52 weather probes spread over the pistes keep us informed of the general temperature, wind speed and hygrometry. The snow tractor drivers keep us updated on the condition of the pistes and the thickness and quality of the snow. All this information is saved to hard disk and it's the computer itself that controls the snow cannons”. Having set it all up, there's nothing left to do but enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate while the machines get on with it. Well, almost. Slaves to the snow “Data is constantly changing”, continues Yves Bonnefoy. “Before the season starts, we need a fairly heavy and wet snow to even out the ground. Later, when the first skiers arrive, a lighter snow is what we need, somewhat powdery.
The slopes are actually ready before the first snowfall. We know how to make snow of all kinds, but just how we do this remains a carefully guarded secret. As far as equipment is concerned,
it is subjected to some of the most extreme operating conditions and we are continually repairing and replacing it, when needed. And this all has to be done on site. In some cases the slopes are so steep, it is impossible to access them
even with a snowmobile. So, we have to actually carry the spare parts, which can weigh more than 20 kg, on our backs. Some of the slopes are 500 metres long, and with deep snow under your feet, you can just imagine what sort of effort is needed to get up there. It's certainly not the computer that's making the repairs. There have even been times when I've actually had to cut myself a corridor through the snow, to reach the ice layer.
Once I got through, I had to start on the frozen ground.
And all that just to change a bit of pipe. Fortunately for me, this took place in the middle of the night. Had it been daytime, the tourists would have taken me for some kind of nut, as they watched me cut my way through the snow with my axe and chainsaw”.

Guaranteed skiing
To improve our snowsports guarantee and increase snow quality and piste comfort even more, from the start to the end of the season, this year the Les Menuires ski area has made another big improvement to its snowmaking facilities. The Les Menuires - Saint Martin ski area now has a total of 325 "snowmakers". With a maximum potential for transforming 800 m3 of water into snow every hour, achieved by running 120 snowguns at the same time, ours is one of the best-equipped resorts in France. Even so, twenty-one new snowguns have just been added to our existing stock.
State-of-the-art snowmakers
These days there are different types of snowmakers. The water flow rate can vary between 3 and 7 m3/hr for the older ones and between 15 and 25 m3/hr for the new-generation snowmakers, depending on the external temperature. With performance like that, we shall be able to increase the number of machines able to operate at the same time, allowing us to increase our instant snow production capacity by almost a third. We can now guarantee snow cover from resort level up to the summit of the Mont de la Chambre, through 1,000 metres of altitude. "Until now we have been able to produce snow at an altitude of up to 2, 500 metres. From now on we can go up to 2,800 metres and the summit of the Mont de la Chambre", explained Yves Bonnefoy, the artificial snow technician (a.k.a. the magician) in Les Menuires. What that means in practice is that there will be sixteen snowmakers positioned at regular intervals from 2,500 metres to 2,800 metres, over 2 km of pistes. Four others will be installed on the Vallons piste (La Masse sector), between 2,020 and 2,175 metres, over 550 m of pistes. In Saint Martin (on the piste serving the Saint Martin ski tow), a last snowmaker will be added to the one already in place to increase production capacity there.
A definite improvement
In reality the new, silent, snowguns will be set up in the resort centre, thereby limiting the amount of noise near where people are staying. From mid- November these powerful machines will help us with our preparations for the season, providing snow cover for the resort. As a result, the older equipment will be moved up higher. What's more, in addition to the fact that producing artificial snow can, when necessary, compensate for unreliable weather conditions, our snowmaking system can be adapted to suit different types of skier. "We can make snows of different qualities. Depending on the external temperature we change the type of gun and water flow rate used to adjust the production quality to the type of snow we want: soft for a beginners' piste or harder for a competition course", commented Yves Bonnefoy. As a general rule artificial snow is very dense because it does not contain much air. It is similar to spring snow, compact and wet. On average, 15 to 20 cm of artificial snow have the same effect as 80 cm of fresh natural snow. This 20 cm forms an excellent base layer to which natural snow sticks better and keeps for longer.

Artificial snow
The snowmaking network continues to expand. After increasing its water storage capacity last year, Sevabel is continuing with its investment strategy. For this winter the Allamands piste has been equipped with 10 additional snowmakers over a 1,200m stretch up to the top of the Roc des 3 Marches. Total investment: 1,000,000 euros. As a result, from the season opening date (11 December this year) the resort can guarantee snow cover on two peaks (including the Mont de la Chambre) from the bottom of the pistes, over a vertical range of 1,000 m, and thereby quality skiing on all of the major 3 Valleys return route.

Artificial snow:
making the most of cold weather
As far as the snowmaking facilities are concerned, developments have continued throughout the ski area. Following on from the investments made last year, the Grand Lac piste, which is served by the Granges chairlift, has been fully equipped. Nineteen snowmakers have been installed along 2,300 m of piste. Lastly, part of the budget (of the overall total of 3 million euros) has been allocated to improving the existing installations. The objective is to continue to produce more snow more quickly, making the most of periods of cold weather to have as many pistes as possible ready when the resort opens.