Aspen Snowmass Adopts Insulation Mats to Hoard Snow for 2026

Aspen Snowmass isn’t just saving snow. It’s hoarding it.

The ski area has become the first in Colorado to deploy Snow Secure insulation mats, a pilot program designed to wrap around man-made snow and keep it from melting all summer long. That’s right. They’re taking last winter’s slush, insulating it, and planning to use it to kickstart the 2026/27 season.

It sounds like a gimmick until you look at the scale. They’ve covered 3.5 million gallons of water equivalent across terrain parks on Buttermilk and Snowmass Mountain. The goal is simple: reduce the amount of new snow they need to make in early fall. Less new snow means less water pumped from reservoirs and less energy burned by those massive snow guns.

“This very much is a sustainability story,” said Chris Miller, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Aspen One.

Miller didn’t mince words. He called it a tool for a “climate resilient toolbox.” That’s the key phrase here. Officials aren’t claiming this solves climate change. They’re admitting the climate is warming, winters are unpredictable, and they need every advantage they can get to maintain that world-class experience locals and tourists expect.

The tech works. As of Tuesday morning, the temperature under the blanket at Buttermilk sat at a chilly 32.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Even when air temps hit 100 degrees, the mats kept the snow stable at 35 to 37 degrees. Antti Lauslahti, CEO of Snow Secure, noted that heat load is the enemy. The mats, enhanced with integrated rain covers, only lose about 3 to 4.5 feet of snow over the entire summer.

Think about that. You start with 14,000 cubic meters in the summer. You end with 10,000 in the autumn. You don’t lose much.

Miller pointed out the hidden cost of traditional snowmaking. When you make snow in winter and it melts in spring, you’ve wasted the water and the embodied energy required to create it. This technology retains that energy. It reuses it. Without the mats, that energy is gone.

The pilot has been in the works for over a year. It’s not a flash-in-the-pan press release. It’s a calculated bet on a warming future. Lauslahti confirmed Aspen is the first in Colorado to use this specific patented tech, following three locations in Canada, Idaho, and Wisconsin. He praised the Aspen team as “super professional” in how they developed the fit.

But here’s the rub. This is still a pilot. It’s still limited to terrain parks. It’s not covering the whole mountain. And it’s not a silver bullet.

“It is not one single technology or thing that is going to solve this problem,” Miller said.

Right. It’s one tool. A very expensive, very specific tool. But it’s a start. As the climate shifts and water becomes scarcer, the ski industry will need more than just bigger snow guns. They’ll need to store what they make. They’ll need to insulate. Adaptation isn’t optional anymore.

Aspen is leading the charge. Other Western Slope resorts will likely follow suit. But for now, the snow is safe. And it’s waiting.