In Lapland, last year’s snow is saved for this year’s tourist. Really. Here’s how

The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet, and in Finnish Lapland, that acceleration is changing winter itself. The snowy wonderland that visitors expect is no longer guaranteed and the need for the tourism sector to adapt is urgent.

“Without snow in November, Lapland is just dark,” says Jusu Toivonen, Sustainability Specialist for Pyhä and Ruka ski resorts.

For Lapland’s winter economy, the challenge is existential. “Tourism in Lapland is so dependent on snow — without it, business becomes very difficult,” says Liisa Ansala, CEO of the Lapland Chamber of Commerce. “The only way now is to use snow from the previous winter. There’s very little margin for error,” Ansala explains. “That’s why our ski resorts had to innovate first, and innovate fast, with solutions like snow storage.”

In the ski business, opening on time is critical for attracting international training groups and getting advanced bookings. For Ruka it means slopes have to be ready by October.

“Twenty years ago it was cold enough in October to open the slopes with snow produced by snow guns,” Toivonen recalls. “But now autumn is too warm and water from the guns won’t freeze in the air.”

Bring in the blankets

Ruka has been a pioneer of large-scale snow storage, the first in Finland, and among the first in the world. It makes the best economic and ecological sense to produce and store the snow already during midwinter in January and February.

“This is when conditions are optimal,” Toivonen explains, “and when the snow guns are most productive, energy efficient and cheapest to run.”

At the season’s end, crews will then push and groom the piles into mounds along the slopes, then literally put them to bed under insulated, reusable blankets. The covers have been especially designed to repel rain and sunlight and are innovating all the time. But, ironically, Toivonen points out that it’s the old school sawdust that would still work the best for preserving the snow, but it’s just too messy to remove from pistes and store over the summer.

Nursing snow through summer

The next challenge is to nurture the covered snow through the summer months, which in Lapland are getting steadily warmer. In a normal year, around three-quarters of the snow survives. This year, the region endured its most intense heatwave since the 1960s, with three full weeks of daytime highs above 30°C. Toivonen says the final figures on how much snow survived will be available in September, but losses could be higher. What remains of the saved snow is rolled back out for October and spread out as the base snow on the slopes ready for the opening.

Tourism accounts for nearly 8 percent of all jobs in Lapland, according to Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, which is well above the national average, so saving the winter season is not just about ski runs but about safeguarding livelihoods.

Not only snow for the ski slopes

This type of snow storage, or snow farming, is no longer just the business of ski resorts. The practice is spreading to other winter operators like reindeer safaris, husky rides, snowmobile companies, even municipalities for maintaining their cross-country ski tracks.

“For winter activity companies, if there’s no snow on the ground for snowmobiling or reindeer sledding or husky sledding, that’s a huge, huge problem,” says Ansala. Some reindeer operators in Rovaniemi are already nursing their own snow piles for storage, others are even offering reindeer sled rides on wheels in the absence of snow.

Operators also face more extreme weather fluctuations. “There are more high winds, and they can cause problems for operating lifts,” says Toivonen, noting that Ruka has recently had to invest in more wind-resilient systems. Just as disruptive are the sudden swings in temperature. “You can have minus 25 degrees today, and tomorrow it’s plus two and raining,” he laments. “You can’t really plan around that weather, and it causes safety issues on the slopes and problems with machinery.”

Shifting to warmer attractions

In the face of these fickle winters, resorts in Lapland are increasingly betting on summer. As with many Alpine resorts further south, Ruka is shifting into new customer experiences not dependent on snow. Using the ski slopes for downhill biking is one big thing. “Something that almost all ski resorts are doing now,” Toivonen notes. Ski schools now double as bike schools, teaching downhill cycling instead of slalom, while equipment rental shops switch from skis and poles to mountain bikes and trekking gear for the summer months.

Lapland operators are also expanding into tree-climbing parks, hiking trails, and even a new mountain coaster that launched in July this year. The new Ruka Coaster travels downhill to stunning views at high speeds of 40km/hr.

This EU co-funded project is part of a broader push by the European Union to strengthen year-round tourism and regional development in the Arctic. As Finland’s first mountain roller coaster, it was built and operated by Rukakeskus, the family-owned company that runs both the Ruka and Pyhä resorts.

“If you look long term, our summer businesses have to grow,” says Toivonen. “Some resorts at lower altitudes in the Alps can’t even operate in winter anymore. It’s inevitable the climate crisis will get worse, so we have to evolve.”

Business taking the lead in mitigation

Mitigation is also part of the conversation. Since 2008, Toivonen’s sustainability program at Pyhä-Ruka has cut scope 1 and 2 emissions by nearly 90 percent. The resorts now run on 100 percent green electricity from hydro, wind and solar sources and district heating from biofuels and geothermal sources. Snow groomers use Neste’s renewable My Diesel, and electric snowmobiles, charged with renewable energy, are starting to replace petrol-fuelled fleets.

Ansala makes the point that companies have often been quicker to act than local government. “Our companies don’t seem to wait for legislation to be put in place,” she says. “They move ahead, while municipalities could be more proactive with their own climate plans.” EU policy helps set the direction, and customers and investors are adding their own momentum by asking for greener choices.

Adaptation in Lapland is costly, continuous, and never finished, but essential to protect both the region’s economy and its cultural identity as an Arctic winter wonderland. Tourism is one of the region’s biggest employers, and keeping it viable helps stabilise jobs and reduce the boom-and-bust of winter-only demand. Or as Toivonen puts it: “Adaptation can no longer be a plan on paper — it’s the work of every day.”

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