Would you want to be a snowmaker?

[marzNC]

Lately I've noticed more announcements about new HKD snowguns than SMI. Here's one for The Highlands, one of the original Boyne Resort locations in Michigan.

The idea of snowguns that need temperature in the teens to produce good snow is funny to me as someone who lives in the southeast. Ski resorts in the southeast are very happy when temps get under 30 and would have gone out of business long ago if their snowguns only worked under 20 degrees.

The Art of Snowmaking | Discover How The Highlands Makes Snow

Discover how our mountain operation team at The Highlands utilizes snowmaking machines to build the perfect base for skiing and snowboarding, even when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate. Our upgraded snowguns make it possible to open steep runs sooner and conserve freshwater sources while reducing...

www.highlandsharborsprings.com

" . . .

Impress Your Friends- FACTS about our upgraded snowguns​

1. The HKD Impulse can make snow at a much higher temperature than the guns they are replacing (26-28 degrees compared to ~18).
2. They use far less air, and therefore energy, to convert the same amount of water, as the guns they replace, into snow at all temperatures.
3. Able to hit steep runs so those runs can open sooner.
4. They are much safer for our staff to make snow on steep runs and provide a much higher quality product."

 

[marzNC]

This article from 2000 has numbers for a few resorts that are well known for snowmaking. At the time, Sunday River had over 2000 snowguns, Killington had 1760 (500 low-E), Blue Mountain in PA had 1382, Snowshoe had over 1000, and Seven Springs in PA had over 1000. Out west Sun Valley had 600, Breckenridge had almost 400, Whistler-Blackcomb had about 300, and Heavenly had over 200. Be interesting to see what the numbers for those resorts will be in 2025.

November 2020

The "Kings" In Snowmaking The Largest Systems in US & Canada

Curious how the largest snowmaking systems in North America stack up? From Sunday River to Whistler we show you how big their systems are.

localfreshies.com

 

[marzNC]

It's been great fun to pay attention to the terrain expansion at my home hill, Massanutten, in northern Virgina over the summer and fall. In many ways, the expansion efforts started over five years ago when plans for the 2.5 mile pipeline to increase water supply for snowmaking became a reality. Next came the installation of more pump capacity. New trails were cut on the upper mountain starting in February 2022 and completed will ahead of schedule. All new groomers have fixed snowguns installed, and I'm sure they are automated.

What's interesting is that Massanutten in using snowguns from more than one manufacturer. Presumably they are going with the best for each type of snowgun. HKD and SMI are American companies that are family owned and operated that have been in business for 50+ years. TechnoAlpin is based in Europe and started getting into the snowmaking business in the 1990s.

2022 News
"Massanutten installed 50 HKD low energy guns and six automated fan snowmakers last year and will be installing 52 additional automated low energy HKD KLIK snow guns and 22 TechnoAlpin and eight SMI fan guns on existing and new terrain in the next two years. The new snowmaking equipment on the existing terrain will replace much older less efficient air water snow guns to reduce our carbon footprint and improve efficiency. The new terrain will all be constructed with automated low energy air water or fan snowmaking technology."

 

[marzNC]

Voting is open until Jan. 23 for the I AM A SNOWMAKER contest for 2023. All the snowmaking teams are in the east this time. I'm voting for my home mountain. But the videos that are the most fun are for Wachusett and Bryce.

404 Error - Ski Area Management

Oops. Out of Bounds. Please go to our homepage and pick a new trail.

www.saminfo.com

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

 

[gr8outdoors]

Learned that Hunter had top-to-bottom snowmaking by 1967 and 100% coverage by 1980. The video is very cute. The "star" has been making snow at Hunter for 40 years. There are over 1000 snow guns at Hunter as of 2019. Only 15% of the snowmaking team ski or board. They just love making snow.

I am not sure how I missed this thread before. My Grandfather was in charge of snowmaking at Hunter Mountain for many years! He was contacted before the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, but chose to send some of his staff to help out. He never received any credit for making them “the snow making capital of the world”. Bucky’s Run is named after him (a small trail in the beginner area).

 

[echo_VT]

This is amazing. I watched each video. I have skied and snowboarded at maybe half of the mountains? I voted yesterday and will vote again today!

 

[echo_VT]

Aw I really enjoyed the Hunter video too! Yes their snowmaking is top notch!

 

[echo_VT]

I checked back and didn't see a winner yet for 2023... definitely interested!

 

[marzNC]

I checked back and didn't see a winner yet for 2023... definitely interested!

For some reason the winner didn't get announced on the I AM A SNOWMAKER webpage. Belleayre in the Catskills of New York won. It's one of the three mountains run by ORDA, which is funded by NY State. Their video is in the SAM article below.

February 2, 2023

I AM A SNOWMAKER 2023: And the Winner Is… - Ski Area Management

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., February 2, 2023—Over 12,000 votes were cast during the 11-day voting period in the 2023 I AM a Snowmaker contest. This year’s contest showcased seven snowmaking teams from across North America: Belleayre Mountain, N.Y.; Bryce Resort, Va.; Jay Peak, Vt.; Massanutten...

www.saminfo.com

 

[TiffAlt]

I was today years old when I learned about the intracacies of snowmaking!!! Thanks @marzNC for starting this thread!

 

[echo_VT]

For some reason the winner didn't get announced on the I AM A SNOWMAKER webpage. Belleayre in the Catskills of New York won. It's one of the three mountains run by ORDA, which is funded by NY State. Their video is in the SAM article below.

February 2, 2023

I AM A SNOWMAKER 2023: And the Winner Is… - Ski Area Management

SAM Magazine—Killington, Vt., February 2, 2023—Over 12,000 votes were cast during the 11-day voting period in the 2023 I AM a Snowmaker contest. This year’s contest showcased seven snowmaking teams from across North America: Belleayre Mountain, N.Y.; Bryce Resort, Va.; Jay Peak, Vt.; Massanutten...

www.saminfo.com

Thank you for sharing that!

 

[marzNC]

Snowmaking technology is always evolving. Killington keeps up with new ideas as much as practical. While also using older technology that's already paid for. The snowguns used during early season have been around for decades. They use a lot of electricity but can make plenty of snow in marginal conditions with higher temperatures and humidity.

June 7, 2023

How Killington stayed open until June - The Mountain Times

New snowmaking technology and a passionate team helped make it possible By Brooke Geery Most people don’t associate skiing and snowboarding with the month of June, but at Killington Resort, it’s always the goal. That being said, it’s no […] Read More

mountaintimes.info

" . . .
Grooming manager David Wright, a graduate of the KSRM program at Green Mountain College (now Resort Hospitality Management at Vermont State University) and Beast team member since 2005, said improved snow farming was possible thanks to the new Leica system from Prinoth. This technology took several seasons to be installed at Killington and was used for the first time during winter 2022/23. It comes from the construction world, essentially using the GPS location and precise elevation of the cat to calculate the depth of the snow at any given time.

Wright explained: “It’s not radar!” he laughed. “It uses a LIDAR scan of the mountain, which was a multi-year process. We flew the mountain and got our terrain model of what’s actually there, elevation and trail edges. The second part was installing the GPS rovers and cellular devices connected to the computer in the machine, which talk to a base station outside of my office and make the calculation of the depth of the snow under the cat. Having the terrain model, we know the elevation of the terrain in every given spot. As the machine drives over the snow, it calculates that difference and the operator can see it in real time on the screen.”

Short version? “We were able to manage the snow better than in previous years,” Wright summarized.
. . ."

Diamond Peak was an early adopter in the USA of SNOWSat (snow depth monitoring system). Started with SNOWSat on the groomers back in 2014. It was developed in Europe.

Snowmaking & Grooming | Diamond Peak Ski Resort

About our Snowmaking System Since 1966 when Diamond Peak was the first resort in the Tahoe region to invest in a snowmaking system, we've been committed Diamond Peak has always invested in snowmaking and grooming technology to ensure we can provide the best snow surfaces possible each winter.

www.diamondpeak.com

 

[echo_VT]

How interesting!! Thanks for sharing the articles and excerpts

 

[marzNC]

These days when a mountain that's dependent on essentially 100% snowmaking upgrades the infrastructure, it's not about adding a few snow guns. Greek Peak in central NY added a bunch of stick guns, plus a powerful fan gun, and increased pumping capacity.

September 29, 2023

Greek Peak Announces Additional Snowmaking Equipment For Mountain - X101 Always Classic

More snowmaking equipment is being added to Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Virgil. Greek Peak says a total of 57 brand new HKD Snowmakers stick guns have been delivered, along[Read More...]

www.wxhc.com

"More snowmaking equipment is being added to Greek Peak Mountain Resort in Virgil. Greek Peak says a total of 57 brand new HKD Snowmakers stick guns have been delivered, along with 12 HKD KLIK hydrants.

Greek Peak also says a new fan gun has been added to produce a healthy base for skiing this upcoming season and a new 450 horsepower pump will be installed that will pump 33% more water than the current one."

 

[marzNC]

Dedicated snowmakers who are willing to work long hours in uncomfortable conditions are critical, no matter how many improvements are made to snowmaking equipment and infrastructure. That is never going to change even as automated snow guns make the job somewhat easier.

This article describes snowmaking teams at Telluride, Steamboat, Sun Valley, Holiday Valley in NY, and Craigleigh in Ontario. The target audience for the article is operations managers. I find the numbers stated fascinating.

September 2019

Building Snowmaking Teams - Ski Area Management

Resorts have realized it takes a lot more than a decent wage to successfully hire and retain good snowmakers. Employee hiring and retention isn’t getting any easier for the snowsports industry. Finding snowmakers is especially difficult, and we’re not even talking about keeping them around lo...

www.saminfo.com

 

[marzNC]

Interesting to learn that Crested Butte has a snowmaking team of 7. The work is usually Nov. 1 to Jan. 1 on about 300 acres. Presumably to assure that there is enough base on green/blue terrain for the late December holiday period.

October 6, 2023

A Day in the Life of a Snowmaker at Crested Butte | Crested Butte Mountain Resort

Your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about the untamed destination at the end of the road.

www.skicb.com

" . . .
Our snowmaking operations cover nearly 300 of Crested Butte’s 1,547 skiable acres, allowing us to get a jump start on skiing and riding as we work to offer our guests reliable early season snow coverage. . . .

Snowmaking typically begins around Nov. 1 and wraps up around Jan. 1. The team’s goal in those 60 days is to create a skiable base on our snowmaking trails. After that, the crew shuts down the snow guns and puts away the equipment for the season. Many snowmakers, including Eric and Jackson, transition to join our grooming team for the remainder of the winter season.

Our snowmakers have work to do in the summer, too, such as equipment replacements and upgrades. Eric and Jackson were busy during summer 2023, working on service and maintenance projects for snowmaking equipment such as compressors and motors. As ski season inches closer, snowmaking crews put all the equipment back out on the mountain and make sure it is working properly before they turn the snow guns on for another season.

Eric has been making snow at CBMR since 2000. With more than two decades of experience, he has a lot of knowledge to share with newer snowmakers like Jackson, who learned the ropes in 2021. With just 7 people in each snowmaking crew, snowmakers get to know one another very well. The better they know each other and their work styles, Eric and Jackson say, the more productive they can be as a team.
. . ."

 

[marzNC]

An irony for snowmaking is that the mountains that get less natural snow have more incentive to build more snowmaking infrastructure to make it easier to open sooner, rather than later. In the southeast, building up a base starting in late October or in November can be a way to have a better chance to have a season that runs into late March. A base that is 2-3 feet deep can withstand warm periods better because there is less melt. Snowmaking was what made developing ski resorts in NC and VA in the 1960s possible. Adding snowmaking is relatively recent for destination resorts in the west. Smaller resorts near those big mountains have been busily increasing snowmaking capacity and coverage in the last decade or two.

All the Utah ski resorts except Powder Mountain have some snowmaking. Brian Head is in southwest Utah, 4 hours drive south of SLC and 4 hours drive northeast of Las Vegas.

October 17, 2023

[VIDEO] Brian Head Resort, UT, Has Begun Snowmaking for the New Season - SnowBrains

The 2023/24 ski season is around the corner, and Brian Head Resort in Utah has begun snowmaking operations in preparation for it. Mother Nature has provided colder temperatures this past weekend, and Brian Head Resort has taken advantage of it. The resort was firing up the snow guns on the...

snowbrains.com

" . . .
The race to open is on to see which mountain will open first, and this Southern Utah Resort is pushing to be the winner. Brian Head resort has a base elevation of 9,600 feet and recorded 1-2 inches of snow two weeks ago, which was enough for locals to hike up the mountain and make the first turns of the season. Lift tickets can be purchased in advance for just $29, while kids 12 and under ski and ride free all year long. Brian Head Resort’s 2023/24 ski season is scheduled to begin on Friday, November 10, with $1 million in capital improvements, including snowmaking upgrades to help open early and hopefully extend the season."

 

[marzNC]

Always intrigued by the numbers when a well-known mountain does major upgrades to snowmaking infrastructure. It's not enough to just buy more snow guns. Getting snowmaking infrastructure ready for more snow guns is often a multi-year effort.

Killington and Pico continue to improve snowmaking. While Killington is known for great snowmaking, not as true for neighboring Pico (same ownership).

Fall 2023

Mountain Improvements

Mountain Improvements

www.picomountain.com

MAJOR SNOWMAKING UPGRADES AT PICO​

In the past several seasons, huge strides have been made to increase snowmaking capacity at Pico Mountain, part of a $5 million mountain improvement plan.

Over the summer of 2023, we completely rebuilt our snowmaking pump house, enabling us to operate at maximum capacity, especially during the coldest days. The pipeline between the pump house and pond is being upsized as well. We've also added 25 new high efficiency HKD snow guns to the fleet, both fixed and mobile. Look for 15 new tower guns to roar on Lower 49er throughout the season and additional guns at work on Fool's Gold and in key locations around the mountain.

Snowmaking was also recently added to lower A Slope, and skiers and riders enjoyed the coverage on this classic New England trail for the first time in over 35 years last season. This project was completed over summer 2022, with fundraising help from the Pico Ski Education Foundation. On Bonanza, the base area was regraded to avoid the dreaded pond effect, and snowmaking pipe replaced and upgraded. B Slope has already received snow making equipment upgrades and new pipe. There's also more room to play in the snow thanks to some selective clearing on our most popular trails.

Prior to all this, several million dollars was invested to complete the dredging of current snowmaking ponds and pipe additional water from Killington over to Pico. Since summer 2019, more than 16,850 feet of new water supply pipeline was installed at Pico, in addition to over 9,000 feet of new and replacement snowmaking pipe. This pipeline transports water directly to Pico’s snowmaking ponds from Killington’s water source, eliminating the dilemma that has long plagued Pico snowmakers—running out of water when snowmaking needs are greatest. With access to this new water supply, that problem is now a thing of the past, allowing Pico snowmakers to keep making snow as long as temperatures allow. 

All told, these snowmaking improvements have more than doubled the snowmaking capacity at Pico from historic levels, allowing us keep conditions more consistent throughout the winter season, and recover faster after challenging weather events.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@marzNC not just the infrastructure planning but the water access planning, especially out west where it is such a limited resource. I believe our season is limited to certain dates and suspect other areas have similar restrictions. I bet this makes the quantity and quality of the infrastructure even more critical, especially as the cold days are so variable.

 

[Jilly]

And the power needed to run everything. In Canada most of the power is generated by the provinces. So they sell the power to distribution points. In Quebec, Tremblant has a deal with Hydro Quebec for power at a reduced rate for a set time frame. Usually fall till end of January.