These popular topics are heating up. Explore today's most viewed pages.
We asked Crescent Hill at Hitchcock's Site Manager, Chris Andrew, what goes into snowmaking, what makes for the best snowmaking weather, and what you can expect this season. Get the scoop below!
We usually start making snow around Thanksgiving if the forecast for the following weeks looks promising. It takes more than a week to two weeks to get the snow depth for what’s needed to open a run. Then we hope for cold weather and no rain!
We use several different types of snowmaking machines, two of which are mobile and can be moved around and a couple others that are permanently fixed. The mobile snowmaking machines include TechnoAlpin TR8s and SMI Polecats, which we can move around to different runs and parts of the ski area, depending on where we want snow and the wind direction. We have two TR8 tower machines that were placed in areas that provide excellent coverage. By having the snowmachine on a tower, it can produce snow more efficiently; the downside is that it can’t be moved. We also use snowmaking sticks (they’re really called sticks!) that are permanently mounted along the south trails, which are perfectly suited for making snow on narrow runs.
TechnoAlpine TR8s and the TechnoAlpine TL8s (sticks) can start making snow as warm as 26 degrees wet bulb, though we often wait until we know it’ll be 25 degrees wet bulb or lower. The SMI PoleCats can make snow when temperatures are slightly colder.
All of the snowmaking machines run off of water pumped from the snowmaking pond, which is now three times larger for more snow and longer snowmaking sessions! They also require compressed air.
Our team generally bases our snowmaking decisions on the wet bulb temperature, which takes into account both temperature and humidity. Wet bulb temperature is always lower than dry bulb temperature (what most of us know as simply the temperature outside), unless the humidity is 100%.
For example, we usually begin looking at making snow at 26 degrees wet bulb, but ideally we’re looking at 24 degrees wet bulb or colder. However, if humidity is low (say, 5%) we can make snow at 30 degrees.
As a general rule, the lower the temperature and humidity, the better the snow!
We need temperatures lower than what Mother Nature requires to make snow because snow machines do not shoot out snow, they shoot out water! This is a common misconception that can be a bit confusing. While natural snowfall starts as water that has hundreds or even thousands of feet to fall and form into snow, our technical "manmade" snow only has 30 feet or so to fall and freeze, which is why it needs to be especially cold out. Some machines on the market shoot out snow, but very few ski areas use them as they are large (the size of shipping containers) and very expensive.
Snowmaking is dependent on temperature, humidity, and wind speed and direction. As we talked about above, low temperature and humidity is essential, although we can make snow at slightly higher temperatures if the humidity is low.
Wind can also make or break a snowmaking session and gusts around or over 20 miles an hour can become very problematic and tend to blow snow away. High winds that constantly change direction can also complicate the process as it makes it difficult to place equipment in a location where snow will be able to accumulate.
Snowmaking efficiency begins to decline when wet bulb temperatures rise above 24 degrees, but even at 24 degrees wet bulb, we're not getting a lot out of our machines. When it rises above 26 degrees wet bulb we have to shut down.
The magic number we look for is 15 degrees wet bulb—that's when we really start to run efficiently and see piles build quickly.
Ah, a perfect snowmaking day! Our team gets especially excited when we see temperatures in the single digits, little to no wind, and very low humidity.
We have several tools we use to make this decision and rely heavily on the weather stations that are installed on the TechnoAlpin snowmaking machines. We also have an on-site weather station. In addition, we pay close attention to data and graphs from the National Weather Service that help us identify snowmaking windows and decide where to set up machines.
Once everything is set up and running, two to three snowmakers can maintain everything. However, if the weather and wind are changing a lot during the snowmaking session, then it requires more people to maintain quality snow and make any necessary adjustments.
We make snow entirely based on weather. This means we might be able to start machines early in the day, or it might dictate that we start later in the evening.
Most often we try to make snow overnight due to the colder temperatures. However, while cold temperatures are generally a good thing for snowmaking, extremely cold temperatures can make it significantly more difficult to deal with any problems that might arise.
We'll let our friends at TechnoAlpin speak to this:
"Like natural snow, artificial snow consists exclusively of water and air. The only difference lies in the production method. Artificial snow is produced by replicating the natural snow formation. Natural snow is formed when the finest water droplets accumulate in the clouds on crystallization nuclei (e.g. dust particles) and freeze there. The resulting ice crystal lattices (less than 0.1 mm in size) fall downwards due to the increasing mass. On the way to earth, the water vapor in the air accumulates, causing the crystals to continue growing. The size of the snowflakes deposited as new snow depends on the temperature. If it is warmer than -5° C, large snowflakes form. At cooler temperatures, the air becomes drier and the flakes are smaller. The principle of formation is the same for artificial or technical snow. The only difference is that the snow core is produced by a mixture of water and compressed air through the snow gun. Due to the lower overall drop height, however, artificial snow has a slightly different crystal structure than natural snow and is harder because the snowflakes are smaller."
Haven't snagged your season pass yet? It's not too late. Get yours today, here.
