• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Would you want to be a snowmaker?

marzNC

Angel Diva
The six teams who made the list for the SAM annual I AM A SNOWMAKER contest for 2020-21 include small and large mountains. Videos will be available in January and online voting is open for a few weeks. I always learn something from the short videos each team puts together.

Blue Mountain, Ontario
Eldora, CO
Mount Pleasant, PA
Okemo, VT
S/Alpine, CA
Whiteface, NY
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The six teams who made the list for the SAM annual I AM A SNOWMAKER contest for 2020-21 include small and large mountains. Videos will be available in January and online voting is open for a few weeks. I always learn something from the short videos each team puts together.

Blue Mountain, Ontario
Eldora, CO
Mount Pleasant, PA
Okemo, VT
S/Alpine, CA
Whiteface, NY
Only four teams are in the running for 2020-21: Blue, Eldora, Okemo, S/Alpine. Voting is open until Jan. 18. Anyone can vote. I think it's possible to vote once a day. I liked the video from S/Alpine the best, although the one from Blue is pretty funny.

https://www.saminfo.com/headline-news/9748-2021-i-am-a-snowmaker-voting-is-now-open
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
:bump:

Been a while since I've looked around for videos about snowmaking.

This video from Wachusett is a good FAQ introduction for New England. The same principles apply on any mountain. However, the high humidity near Boston is perhaps more of an issue than for mountain farther away from an ocean.

 

marzNC

Angel Diva
There are 7 snowmaking teams that will have videos for the I AM A SNOWMAKER contest when voting is open in January 2022. Per usual, it's a mix of regions and includes large and small mountains.

MOUNTAIN HIGH, CA
VAIL MOUNTAIN, CO
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, MI
SUGARBUSH, VT
SUGARLOAF, ME
CAMELBACK, PA
BOLER MOUNTAIN, Ontario, Canada
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
:bump:

Been a while since I've looked around for videos about snowmaking.

This video from Wachusett is a good FAQ introduction for New England. The same principles apply on any mountain. However, the high humidity near Boston is perhaps more of an issue than for mountain farther away from an ocean.


I saw this video the other day and thought it was nice. Would have liked them to leave a version with the technical bits they fast forwarded over though! Unless that was just part of the humor and there wasn’t actually content there. :smile:
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I saw this video the other day and thought it was nice. Would have liked them to leave a version with the technical bits they fast forwarded over though! Unless that was just part of the humor and there wasn’t actually content there. :smile:
You could tell someone in Wachusett marketing. Putting the really techie stuff into a separate video might well be of interest to some people. I'm sure it's not hard to get snowmakers to go on and on about the mechanics and tech that makes the magic happen these days.

Massanutten still has some old fixed snowguns. They are very loud. I'm sure they aren't as energy efficient as the snowguns installed in the last 5-6 years. But I can understand why it makes more sense to spend money on new snowguns or fixing old water/air pipes since they still work well.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
You could tell someone in Wachusett marketing. Putting the really techie stuff into a separate video might well be of interest to some people. I'm sure it's not hard to get snowmakers to go on and on about the mechanics and tech that makes the magic happen these days.

Massanutten still has some old fixed snowguns. They are very loud. I'm sure they aren't as energy efficient as the snowguns installed in the last 5-6 years. But I can understand why it makes more sense to spend money on new snowguns or fixing old water/air pipes since they still work well.
True, maybe I will make this comment to them!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Needless to say, along with general lack of staff there is a shortage for snowmakers for many ski resorts. At this point, no experience necessary.

November 23, 2021
" . . .
Someone with no experience can start at $15 an hour. The more experience you have, the more money you can make.

And anyone who works at Smugglers’ Notch gets a free season pass.

All employees are given all the gear and training they will need for the work.

“A lot of love to do this job. You have to love being on the mountain. Love being outside. Love making snow,” Thoelke said. “Once you’ve trained them how to do it, if you love it, it’s hard to get away from it.”

Snowmakers are seasonal positions from November to January. But if your season goes well, you may be able to stay on with the company working lifts until April.

The best part of the job?

“Being on the hill in the middle of the night, stars are out, the snow guns are going,” Thoelke said [snowmaking manager at Smugglers’ Notch]. “It’s peaceful up there.”"
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Voting is open for the 2022 I AM A SNOWMAKER contest. Anyone can vote once a day until Jan. 21. Each team put together a 3-min video to introduce their team. Well worth watching to see what's unique and what's common among teams. The finalists represent multiple regions as well as small and large mountains.


January 10, 2022
" . . .
The seven finalists competing in this season’s I AM a Snowmaker contest are:

Boler Mountain, Ont.
Camelback Resort, Pa.
Crystal Mountain, Mich.
Mountain High, Calif.
Sugarbush, Vt.
Sugarloaf, Maine
Vail Mountain, Colo.

“I AM a Snowmaker is always a highlight for us at HKD. From its inception in 2013, the purpose of I AM has always been to highlight the inspiring hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication of snowmaking crews across the industry,” said HKD president Charles Santry. "The diversity we have seen in terms of snowmaking crews, system size, geography, and the various snowmaking technology utilized has been extraordinary. This year has been no exception.
. . ."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The finalists for the I AM A SNOWMAKER 2023 competition by SAM have been announced. Per usual, voting will be in January after the videos are posted. It's a bit unusual that all the nominees are in the east.

Windham, NY
Belleayre, NY
Jay Peak, VT
Wachusett, MA
Pleasant Mountain, ME
Bryce, VA
Massanutten, VA

If you are curious, the winner for 2022 was Boler Mountain in Ontario.

November 2022
"
The I AM a Snowmaker contest—sponsored by HKD Snowmakers—highlights the hard work, determination and camaraderie of snowmakers, and recognizes how critical they are to the success of the mountain resort industry. I AM a Snowmaker was started in the winter of 2013-14, and has since had various forms, all in keeping with this mission.

Seven snowmaking crews have been selected for this year's I AM a Snowmaker contest, supported by HKD. They will each create a video taking us behind the scenes, sharing why they love making snow at their resort
. . ."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Given that the southeast is my home region and having 100% snowmaking coverage has been standard practice for decades, I find it a bit funny to read about the number of snow guns at a destination resort at big mountains.

Big Sky in Montana is owned by Boyne Resorts. Everett Kircher started out in the midwest in the 1950s with Boyne Mountain and was successful because he understood that as long as there was snow, people would come. Even for a bump with only a few hundred feet of vertical. Boyne bought Big Sky in the 1970s and has been very patient in terms of expansions and upgrades. Snowmaking wasn't a priority until relatively recently. The reason for snowmaking during the early season is to build a base on core green and blue groomers in order to be ready for the holiday season. That means having a minimum number of trails open by Thanksgiving and as many as possible by Christmas, even if Mother Nature isn't helping with a few big snowstorms in November and early December.

Sounds like Big Sky has at least 100 snow guns and about 400 acres where snowmaking happens. Not sure how many fixed snow guns are installed. There are close to 6000 skiable acres, including a lot of off-piste terrain and extreme terrain that requires hiking. Snowmaking probably ends by mid-December unless absolutely necessary to get through the holidays. In comparison, my home hill in northern Virginia has about 300 snow guns for about 100 acres. Almost all of the terrain is groomed trails. All the trails have fixed snow guns, plus there are large portable fan guns to supplement high traffic areas if needed. With recent upgrades to the snowmaking infrastructure, there can be snowmaking on multiples trails at the same time for hours. Snowmaking starts in late November if at all possible and can continues until late March if the weather is appropriate.

November 7, 2022
" . . .
Big Sky Resort's Public Relations Manager Stacie Mesuda says there is a lot of snow falling at the resort and way more to come.

“This fall Big Sky resort has received over four feet of snow so our teams have been super busy," says Mesuda.

Along with the natural snowfall, the resort is making sure there is more than enough snow for a solid season.

“We're firing 91 Snow guns simultaneously to create a great early season base,” says Mesuda.

. . ."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
In addition to making snow to help build a base during early season that will last into late season, a ski area also needs to know how to make the best use of grooming machines. There is more to it than just flattening out snow gun piles.

Out west, dealing with early season snowstorms before core groomer trails are open can make a difference in April. Or May in the case of Arapahoe Basin. I'd never heard of "track packing" with a groomer before Al's recent blog post. Makes sense given how packing with ski boots or skis on works on steep terrain such as the Aspen Highlands Bowl or Kachine Peak at Taos. I remember packing snow with skis on a few trails at the school hill at North Country School in middle school back long ago.

November 8, 2022
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Snowmaking is important even in the European Alps. A resort can have hundreds of hydrants and hundreds of portable fan guns. I have a sense that there are few fixed lance (stick) snowguns, as is very common in the southeast or for core top-to-bottom groomers at destination resorts in the Rockies, Tahoe, or other regions in the west.

Dec 2016, in German with subtitles
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Snowmaking is not only important for alpine slopes, also used for major nordic centers. Mt. Van Hoevenberg started using a Snow Factory several years ago to insure enough trails are covered for early season training. Snowguns have been installed on a number of trails in preparation for the FISU World University Games in January 2023. That competition has been held in Europe since 2011 and includes a couple thousand competitors.

"The Lake Placid Nordic Center will now have the best snowmaking in all of North America. Our new system will allow us to make snow earlier than ever before. We have expanded our snowmaking abilities. This expansion will allow us to cover our new 5km of trails in 3-4 days. This gives us the ability to offer training and skiing earlier than ever before. Our new 3 million plus gallon reservoir will be at the center of our new snowmaking abilities. This reservoir will be supplying water to all our new snow guns."

Filmed in 2020, posted late 2021
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The Latitude 90 by a Canadian company is showing up at small ski areas this season. They are partners of SMI, which is one of the well known American snowgun companies. Spring Mountain in PA and Beech Mountain in NC are trying out the Latitude 90, which can make snow in warmer temperatures than optimal wet bulb conditions with temperatures under 30 degrees.



November 2022, Spring Mountain Adventures in PA
 
  • Like
Reactions: AJM

marzNC

Angel Diva
The number of snowguns per acre is very different between big mountains in the Rockies or the Northeast and regions like the midwest, the mid-Atlantic, or the southeast. Camelback is one of the larger ski resorts in PA with over 150 skiable acres with essentially 100% coverage. Nub's Nob in MI has 248 acres, 97% snowmaking, and 315 snowguns. Very few resorts in the Rockies with over 1500 acres have more than a couple hundred snowguns, mostly because the percentage of terrain that is never groomed is much larger.

November 15, 2022
" . . .
The ski area has also continued making enhancements to its snowmaking system, which now features more than 1,500 snow guns covering 166 acres of slopes. The system is capable of pumping 12,000 gallons of water per minute across the mountain. Fully automated snowmaking has been added to Nile Mile, and a new grooming machine equipped with snow depth technology has been purchased.
. . ."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Fair to say that the snowmaking infrastructure at every major ski resort continues to change. The technology evolves and the priorities for where snowmaking is needed at various times of the season can shift as well. When money is available, it can take a few years for upgrades to be noticeable though. Gore Mountain in NY is featured in the following article.

November 29, 2022
" . . .
“This is the best season’s start for snowmaking I’ve seen,” said Gore’s snowmaking supervisor Dan Feiden recently. The 15-year veteran at the area points to technology improvement and added snowmaking capacity as the reasons why.

“We’ve expanded very aggressively in the last five years. Then we had six stations pumping 4,800 gallons of water a minute on the hill. Today we have nine pumping 6,800 gallons. And over that period we have added 600 new high-efficiency guns that use less air to produce more snow.”

Feiden has a crew of 25 snowmakers who work over three shifts a day. The commitment is telling.

“I don’t believe we have ever had this much terrain open this early in the season due to snowmaking only.” he said.

And It isn’t just hardware that is making the difference. The addition of Snomax two years ago contributes, too, especially when temperatures on the mountain are marginal for snowmaking.

“This is an additive we add at the pump house,” Feiden said. “The result creates more particles in the water that provide more snow when mixed with air.”
. . .
 

AJM

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The Latitude 90 by a Canadian company is showing up at small ski areas this season. They are partners of SMI, which is one of the well known American snowgun companies. Spring Mountain in PA and Beech Mountain in NC are trying out the Latitude 90, which can make snow in warmer temperatures than optimal wet bulb conditions with temperatures under 30 degrees.



November 2022, Spring Mountain Adventures in PA
My nephew has just arrived at Beech Mountain as a snowmaker so I'm sure he'll be excited to try out the technology.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Just discovered that Wachusett has a podcast series. This one is a conversation with the co-founder of HKD Snowmakers. I never registered the Massachusetts connection before. Another co-founder was from western PA and owned Seven Springs. HKD was essentially a family business. Not surprisingly, the connection to Wachusett goes way back. HKD sponsors the annual I AM A SNOWMAKER contest hosted by SAM.

November 2020
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,237
Messages
497,686
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top