July Skiing Happened in Vermont and it’s Hilarious

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center has just accomplished an incredible feat: they made Vermont snowfall last until July. That’s insane, especially when you consider that Vermont has been facing a heat wave this week with humid, 90-degree weather.

The cross-country ski area is experimenting for the first time with snow storage in a project they’re calling “snow farming.” They’ve teamed up with geologists from the University of Vermont to see if they can preserve snow over the summer season. So, what’s they’re snow-saving method? They hide the snow under piles of woodchips. 

They write in their blog, “The goal here is to see if we can store snow over summer and eventually use it to cover the trails and start skiing in November. How long will this summer’s piles last? June? July? August? How about an epic BKL snowball fight on Labor Day! We don’t know. This is a first time experiment so far south and so low in elevation.” They even hooked up sensors and other various data collection devices to track how quickly the snow is melting beneath the piles. Check it out: 

And, to top it all off, they “harvested” some of their stash for a 3^rd of July block party, which is where this amazing edit came from. It’s a riot, and we’re jealous to have missed out.