animiert magazin nummer21 winter

Joe Inderbitzin is in charge of snowmaking on the Titlis. It is his job to ensure that the snow cannons are ready and able to fire their fluffy white ice crystals. Often, he and his teamwork all night so that Engelberg can open its ski slopes as early as possible in the autumn and keep them running as long as possible into the spring. Ever y autumn, Joe Inderbitzin star ts get ting a lit tle ner vous. Will it be cold enough to star t up the 220 snow cannons on the mountain? However much natura l snowfa ll

dependent snowmaking is on weather con- ditions can be seen when the snow cannons on the lower par t of the K lostermat te are in operation but not those higher up. “Sometimes a pocket of cold air forms, meaning that the bot tom of the va lley is chillier than it is just 20 metres f ur ther up.” More proof if any were needed that even state-of-the-ar t technol- ogy cannot a lways outsmar t Mother Nature. Now aged 33, passionate skier Joe is a farmer’s son who grew up in the Sat tel-Hoch- stuck li ski area. He used to accompany his

there has been, his main concern is to get the slopes ready for winter spor ts fans as soon as possible. Last winter, which had ver y lit- tle natura l snowfa ll, was a tex tbook example of how

father when he went out to get the ski slopes ready. Joe qua lif ied as an agricu ltura l- ist and then as a plumber, and is passionate about snowmaking. “I love this job, otherwise I wou ldn’ t

Like natural snow, artificial snow is made from noth- ing but air and water.

impor tant it is to keep ski areas supplied with ar tif icia l snow. At Christmas, for ex- ample, the mild, a lmost spring-like weather forced ski areas without snow cannons to switch to summer operations and accept an a larming drop in revenue. Thank f u lly, conditions on the Titlis were still good. But Joe isn’ t a conjuror and he cannot make the impossible possible. “Idea lly, I like to get the snow cannons star ted in early Oc to- ber, but of ten that isn’ t doable.” The weather dic tates whether or not snowmaking can begin. It ’s not just the temperature that plays a role, however – winds and humidity are a lso crucia l. On a clear night with low humidity, the snow cannons can star t pumping when it ’s just 0°C, but otherwise the temperature can be no higher than minus 2°C for the water and air to mi x to produce snow. “Last winter was bruta l. Trübsee just wou ldn’ t get cold enough and we cou ldn’ t use the cannons there,” reca lls Joe. One curious example of how

be able to do it. My staf f and I need to care enough to rea lly get out there and do what needs to be done.” Joe and his team have to be willing to work at night and to ski across the mountainside in a ll weathers to make sure that the snow is of the required qua lity or to check whether conditions have changed and it is now cold enough to f ire up the cannons af ter a ll. If a cold snap lasts long enough, they sometimes work ever y night for two weeks – and of ten that is over Christmas and New Year. Between two and nine people work the day time shif t and the night shif t. Teams of two check the various sec tions of the slopes; one person sits at the computer monitor- ing the si x pump houses and the weather. It isn’ t easy for Joe to put a team together because he can’ t come up with any kind of consistent work rota – the weather decides. Since autumn 2017, snow cannons have been operating on the Titlis glacier too, and that poses a new cha llenge. At 3,000 metres

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