Bogus Basin Unveils Snow Stored over the Summer Season

With colder temperatures expected on the mountain this weekend and snowmaking conditions in the forecast, Bogus Basin is taking another step toward winter operations: uncovering a massive pile of snow that has been stored beneath insulated panels since March. For the second year, Bogus Basin successfully preserved snow through the summer using insulated, weather-resistant panels manufactured by Snow Secure, a Finnish company specializing in snow storage. The system limits summer melting, allowing the snow to be reused to help establish a base for winter operations.

Last year, Bogus Basin became the first ski area in the nation to pilot Snow Secure technology. When the panels were removed in October 2025, nearly three fifths of the original snow pile remained, despite exterior temperatures that reached 119 degrees during the summer. The success of Bogus Basin’s pilot quickly drew attention well beyond Idaho, generating regional and national media coverage along with significant interest across the ski industry. The project became part of a growing conversation about using snow storage as a tool to improve early-season reliability while reducing the water and energy required for snowmaking.

In the year since Bogus Basin’s pilot, other North American ski areas – including Snowmass and Buttermilk Resorts in Colorado, Big Sky Resort in Montana, Powder Mountain and Soldier Hollow in Utah, and Proctor Academy in New Hampshire – have followed suit and invested in Snow Secure technology. It is a development that Bogus Basin Director of Operations Nate Shake anticipated last fall when he said, “Both environmentally and economically, this is the next innovation for the North American ski industry.”

“With a change in the weather coming this weekend, the timing was ideal for removing the insulated panels. We’re seeing good snowmaking temperatures and moisture in the forecast, so we can begin putting this stored snow to work and preparing for winter operations. The panels will be carefully packed away until they’re needed again to cover a new snow pile in the spring.”

Jonathan Ostrow, Snowmaking Manager

Today, Bogus Basin’s mountain operations team removed the insulated panels covering the snow pile on the lower section of Coach’s Corner. Despite record-low snowfall during the 2025/26 winter season, the team stored more snow than the previous year. When covered in late March, the pile measured approximately 35 feet high, 80 feet wide and 330 feet long. Months later, approximately 60% of the original pile remained beneath the panels. Throughout the summer, exterior surface temperatures reached 118 degrees, while temperatures beneath the panels averaged at just 34.7 degrees.

For Bogus Basin, snow storage is ultimately about creating greater predictability for early-season operations. By expanding the program over time, the non-profit recreation area hopes to reduce its reliance on natural snowfall and limited snowmaking windows as winter approaches. Weather permitting, Bogus Basin is targeting Saturday, November 21st, to begin winter operations, using stored snow along with natural snowfall and snowmaking as conditions allow.

For more information, visit bogusbasin.org.