White Christmas. What many people in Switzerland consider part of holiday romance is a clear goal for Dominik Wandfluh. For the past four years, he has led the six-person snowmaking team at Titlis Cableways, overseeing around 250 snow cannons and snow lances across the entire ski area. As soon as weather conditions permit from the end of September, they get to work, first snowmaking on the glacier and the slopes in the Stand area, then the Jochpass and Engstlenalp, and finally the Trubsee area, including the long valley run down to Engelberg. "Our goal is to have the valley run open by Christmas at the latest," says Wandfluh. "After all, hardly anyone wants to take the gondola back down to the valley at the end of a ski day."

The task sounds easier than it is. Wandfluh and his team hope for as much natural snow as possible and low temperatures starting in September to make snowmaking feasible. "To operate the machines, we need the right wet-bulb temperature," explains Wandfluh. "This means the right combination of low air temperature and low humidity. Based on experience, this occurs on about 50 days between October and December, though the windows of opportunity vary. Often, we can only make snow at night."

However, due to climate change, the number of days when snowmaking is possible in late autumn and early winter has decreased to around 30. "That, of course, makes our task even more challenging," says Wandfluh.

The team starts by creating the base layer. The cannons and lances can be adjusted to produce snow with varying moisture levels. “First, we make a wet, hard layer to insulate the ground,” explains Wandfluh. “We then build the actual slope on top of this foundation.” Depending on the location and topography, different thicknesses of the base layer are required. “For example, on the terrain of slope 2 between Stand and Trübsee, there are many rocks, so we need a base layer over one meter thick before we can even work with the grooming vehicles,” says Wandfluh. “On the valley run, a base layer of just over half a meter is sufficient because the slope runs over meadows.”

From New Year’s onward, snowmaking is only done if weather conditions require it, such as when there is very little snowfall or high daytime temperatures cause existing snow to melt. “As a general principle, we try to rely as little as possible on technical snowmaking,” says Wandfluh. “After all, we don’t want to use energy unnecessarily.” At full capacity, up to 330 liters of water per second flow through the mountain’s snowmaking systems. In spring, the melting snow returns to nature in a natural cycle. No chemicals are used in the snowmaking process at Titlis.

The members of the snowmaking team, who are out on the slopes daily to clear equipment of ice or move it to a new location, can control any of the 250 machines via an app, adjusting performance as needed. Thanks to a defined prioritization of areas, the system knows where to reduce output to increase performance elsewhere. If there’s a headwind, the machines automatically shut off to avoid covering themselves in snow. “In the past, two of us had to monitor the systems at the computer constantly,” says Wandfluh. “Today, we have an intelligent system and the control center in our pocket. It makes our work much easier.”

When asked if the job is physically demanding, Wandfluh laughs. “At the start of the winter, it’s very demanding, yes. But by May, we’re in the best shape of our lives!”