After being put aside when the skiing season was abruptly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, snow cannons are now being used to fight the virus.

In the villages of Val Gardena, the South Tyrolean valley best known for skiing and rock-climbing, a snow cannon mounted on a truck is spraying tons of disinfectant on walls, squares, and streets to clear the towns of the coronavirus.

Firefighters and snowmaking experts worked together to make this operation possible. The snowmaking company Demaclenko offered to bring its snow cannon down from the ski slopes and into the South Tyrolean villages to turn it into a powerful tool in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Firefighters used their hoses to fill the cannon with diluted hydrogen peroxide – which is 100 percent biodegradable, according to Demaclenko.

Italy is bracing for the much-discussed second phase of its lockdown, when stricter measures will be relaxed and the South Tyrol region is preparing for this by sanitizing its streets.