Power? Wrong metric. Early season, systems are air limited. Once the cold weather arrives, it is water up the hill. Percent coverage is also a BS metric, since really what skiers care about is total terrain acres. Gallons/Acre? interesting. Matters if you're trying to get a run open fast, but unless there's a total acreage factor in there, misleading. Number of guns is irrelevant, since different guns use different amounts of water.
Why shouldn't rental compressors count? They are around and available since other customers are more interested in summer use. It avoids cap-ex on something that is only used for a few months, and the area gets newer "greener" models, than if they had their own. Killington has compressor pads over by Snowshed (and other spots); they rent them every year; it's part of their plan.
However, going back to my original statement, generally the systems that can move a lot of water can also make a lot of air, and when conditions are marginal, they aren't trying to open the entire hill, so water up the hill (which a lot of ski areas publish) is a reasonable stand in for air.
Last season, Nyberg mentioned in a public meeting that Killington was pumping 8000 gallons a minute. At the time, they were not trying to get Bear open, so that whole side of the system was shutdown. I think they claim 11000 gallons/minute, but I doubt they can sustain that indefinitely. I suspect they'd draw down the ponds, despite the 2 foot pipe from Woodward.
Why shouldn't rental compressors count? They are around and available since other customers are more interested in summer use. It avoids cap-ex on something that is only used for a few months, and the area gets newer "greener" models, than if they had their own. Killington has compressor pads over by Snowshed (and other spots); they rent them every year; it's part of their plan.
However, going back to my original statement, generally the systems that can move a lot of water can also make a lot of air, and when conditions are marginal, they aren't trying to open the entire hill, so water up the hill (which a lot of ski areas publish) is a reasonable stand in for air.
Last season, Nyberg mentioned in a public meeting that Killington was pumping 8000 gallons a minute. At the time, they were not trying to get Bear open, so that whole side of the system was shutdown. I think they claim 11000 gallons/minute, but I doubt they can sustain that indefinitely. I suspect they'd draw down the ponds, despite the 2 foot pipe from Woodward.
Sotto! 
