[AFP] Luc Andre - An Israeli engineering firm has come up with a machine capable of generating snow in all weather. Six times as powerful as a traditional snow cannon, the All Weather Snowmaker, developed by IDE Technologies, produces flakes regardless of temperature, humidity and wind. The technology was originally developed to desalinate sea water. A refined version was being used to cool mines in South Africa when a Russian IDE engineer came up with the idea. "During a mission in South Africa in 2005, he suddenly exclaimed: 'It's snow, I can ski on it!'," IDE spokesman Moshe Tessel said. "We had been using this technology for about 15 years, but since we're not really familiar with skiing in Israel, it never occurred to us." A $3.7 million investment allowed the Pitztal ski area in Austria to increase its ski area threefold in time for the start of the season, and several World Cup ski teams invited to test the snow were impressed.
2009-11-13 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive