History
Although archeological evidence suggests that humans first skied about 4,000 years ago, interest in this activity as a sport did not begin until the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1883, the first international competition was held in Norway. The sport soon spread to the rest of Europe and America. As the popularity of skiing increased so did the need for a device that could provide snow when it was not naturally available. This need led to the development of the first artificial snow making machines.
One of the first machines was patented in the early 1900s. While it was functional, this machine was crude and unreliable. Steady improvements in design led to the development of a compressed air snow-making machine in the 1950s. This machine worked by using compressed air to force water through a nozzle. The nozzle would break the water up into smaller droplets, which would subsequently crystallize. The Pierce device, named after its inventor, was effective enough that most ski resorts used it. However, it did have its drawbacks, most notably, the nozzle tended to clog and it required a very high amount compressed air. This made it expensive to run. Additionally, the machine was quite noisy, and the snow that it produced tended to be wetter and icier.
During the 1970s, a variety of new innovations were introduced to the machines that improved the quality and method of producing artificial snow. One improvement was the addition of a rotating base and fan. The fan would blow the newly created snow farther away from the machine than compressed air alone and the rotating base allowed the direction of the snow to be changed. This made it possible to cover a much larger area with a single machine. Another improvement was the introduction of a ducted-fan machine. These machines were portable, making it possible to use them all over the ski run. They were superior to compressed air machines because they were significantly quieter and were less expensive to run.
In 1975, a nucleating agent was discovered by Steve Lindow, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin. While investigating a method to protect plants from frost damage, he found a protein that attracts water molecules and helps them form crystals. It was soon realized that this would be a useful material for making artificial snow. The material was then trademarked and is now sold under the trade name Snomax.
As electronics improved, so did the controls for artificial snow-making machines. Computer controls were added, as were sensors that could automatically detect snow requirements. Higher powered fans were also added. Various other innovations led to machines that could produce better snow and more of it. Today, nearly all ski resorts employ some type of artificial snow-making system to improve skiing conditions and increase the length of the ski season.