First there was the polish plumber, a well-known threat for the Western Europe labour market, an unfair competitor from the East. Now time has come for the polish farmer, recycled as a « snow farmer« . According to local sources, this business would be very profitable, as snow falls for free. A great opportunity since a cold wave came to East Europe while the West, where most ski resorts are located, still gets mild temperatures.

Poland is a large farming country and nowadays, millions of acres of land are covered with snow and remain useless until spring comes. Meanwhile, in France as well as most alpine countries, there’s a dramatic lack of snow. The financial balance of Christmas holidays is a historical failure, a catastrophe for many ski resorts, villages and people. Some try to carry a few cubic meters of snow via helicopters, crazy stubborn mountain guys! Hopefully here comes the polish snow deal!!

GOD SAVES THE WINTER SPORTS

France’s explosions of insecurity looks like a tragedy for holiday makers and tour operators. Foreign tourists tend to cancel or postpone their trips to Paris and other French cities. As a key economic sector, French tourism just cannot afford losing the alpine divine business. At all costs, it’s time for some ingenuity in order to save the ski runs. If no solution is found, snow reports will look miserable and the buzz might kill the season! No pro business website will be able to hide the truth about green or dry ski runs, at the age of webcams all over the Alps…

LOW COST POLISH SNOW

At night, when everyone is deeply asleep, a great snow ballet will start. On the polish side, snow harvesting will be an easy job on flat lands, with thousands of unemployed people in the Eastern part of the country ready to give a hand. The white gold will quickly fill in hundreds of trucks, according to the alpine continuous flow of orders.

A few hours later, the snow troop will split over the fifty or more ski resorts that have been starving for it since early December. They cannot wait any longer to show real white ski slopes. Then, in a business as usual fashion, snow ploughs will finish the task of spreading the fresh snow all over the place, and the magic will be secured for good!

Forget the expansive and little reliable snow machines. It’s time for low cost import snow! Once again some snow engineering suppliers won’t believe their eyes in front of such an unexpected competition.

Any skeptical reader may feel sorry for the environmental footprint (trucks, oil) and for the social impact (relocations, unfair competition…) Ok, but you know what? Winter sports are a dream come true for the masses, and a symbol of wealth. It’s always been, in fact, a gentrified hobby, cherished by the elites and wanted by the rest of the society. There’s no price for snow!!

Low cost, imported polish snow… Another hoax or a true business case? It’s up to you to decide!

Laurent