Snow guns, like this one, are a crucial part of Bolton Valley Resort’s operation. The ski area has invested about $1 million in snowmaking over the past seven years. Listen to Marketplace each weekday at 6:30 p.m. on Maine Public Radio. This story originally aired on “Marketplace” on Dec. 16, 2024. A few days before Thanksgiving, Mark Nelson had hoped to be making snow at Bolton Valley Resort in northern Vermont. But instead, hoses hooked up to air compressors were just blowing air out over the icy ground to keep the system in working order in case temperatures dropped later in the day. “We call it marginal when the conditions are like this,” Nelson, the independent ski area’s snowmaking supervisor said. “Marginal snow making.” At 30 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity, the afternoon was a bit too warm. Nelson wanted to see the temperature drop to at least 26 degrees. In some spots, his team had already covered trails with at least two feet of snow over the previous few weeks. “That’s a pretty good amount to start with, but we need some more,” he said. In order to open by the holiday weekend though, they’d need “a couple of feet spread across the whole width of the trail, and top to bottom.” For small, independent resorts like Bolton, making enough snow is crucial for a good season. Larger conglomerates like Vail Resorts — which owns ski areas in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia — can balance out a bad winter in one part of the globe with a good winter somewhere else. Small resorts don’t have that luxury . Hedging the ups and downs of winter weather means making snow at every possible moment. But as the climate warms, that’s getting more challenging. Whenever it does get […]