Through its website and daily newsletters, The Peak (a ZoomerMedia property) offers Canadians the news they need to understand business, tech, and other must-know stories.
In this dispatch, The Peak looks at how Finnish ski resorts are storing snow throughout the year for use when low snowfalls threaten the ski season, the real reason (shocker: it’s money) that cruise companies are investing in – and travelling to – private islands – and how Alberta’s rat-free success is inspiring other Canadian cities to follow suit.
Finnish Snow Storage Could Help Save Skiing
As some Canadian ski resorts prepare to open this month, they may have to contend with another season short on snow. Luckily, the Finns (who else) might have a solution for the years ahead.
Driving the news: To shore up snow supply, some Finnish ski resorts have adopted mats made of extruded polystyrene, an insulator, to store snow during non-winter seasons. The reserve snow is used to cover their slopes in the event of low snowfall during ski season.
- For example, the Ruka ski resort collects ~60,000 cubic metres of snow, covers it with these mats, and stores it outside from April until the start of the ski season.
- By the time the snow is uncovered in October, between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of it is still around, enough to spread across three or four downhill slopes and its snow park.
Big picture: For the first time this year, resorts outside of Finland are now using these mats to safeguard against low snow. Snow storage is growing in popularity for resorts, as it has the potential to be a less energy-intensive and more reliable solution than artificial snow.
In Canada: Resorts have delayed, shortened, or even outright cancelled ski seasons due to lack of snow. Continued warmer winters will make the problem even worse. A recent study found that by 2050, some resorts could see as much as a 36-day decrease in ski days. — Quinn Henderson
Cruises Are Taking Their Destinations Private
As cruise companies continue to rake in record profits, they’re setting their sights on what could be the industry’s next big play: private islands.
Driving the news: Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are investing US$600 million and $150 million, respectively, to expand their existing private islands in the Bahamas, while Royal Caribbean Group is building three new private cruise destinations.
- Royal Caribbean proved the concept was a money-maker in 2019 when it opened a private island destination in the Bahamas with zip lines, water parks, and even hot-air balloons.
- Cruise lines have since spent at least US$1.5 billion to build their own private islands. Collectively, cruises own at least 15 islands and beaches in the Caribbean.
Why it’s happening: The private islands give cruise operators a bigger chunk of their passengers’ cash. Not only do they keep passengers’ spending money in house, they also avoid paying the fees and taxes they usually hand over to governments when they dock.
Bottom line: Cruises walk away with more cash and passengers skip the crowds at popular port cities, but the tourism-dependent economies of Caribbean islands are paying the price by losing out on the wallets of cruise-goers. — Lucas Arender
Alberta Intends To Stay Rat-Free
As rat populations explode in Canadian cities like Ottawa and Vancouver, provinces could start looking to Alberta – which says it’s been rat-free for seven decades – for inspiration.
Driving the news: The province’s invasive species council is putting $110,000 in federal money towards “Rat on Rats,” its newest anti-rat awareness campaign. Albertans are being targeted with billboards and outreach materials reminding them to report any rat sightings.
- Rats first arrived on Canada’s east coast by European ships in the 1770s. They gradually started moving west and are thought to have reached Alberta around 1950.
- The province responded swiftly to its new visitors, immediately designating them as pests, launching an aggressive eradication drive, and creating a Rat Control Zone.
Alberta’s Rat Control Program today focuses mainly on reported rat sightings. While the majority of calls are false alarms – last year there were just 23 confirmed rats out of 458 reports – major infestations do happen. One in Calgary last November stirred headlines.
Why it matters: Rats are invasive pests that can spread infectious diseases and cost millions in annual economic damages, primarily by spoiling food and crops. This makes the ~$360,000 Alberta spends each year to ward off the rotten rodents a small price to pay. — QH
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