By now everyone knows it's a super crappy year, temps up and down, rain snow drought. But I keep seeing relatively cold nights, and yet no effort in many days to make snow. Is this simply a business decision or is it because the conditions aren't right? Hunter is my home mountain but I notice this seems a trend everywhere in the East. Has the year been completely written off as far as snowmaking is concerned?
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Snowmaking at Hunter
- Thread starter JimmyPete
- Start date
For many areas yes. I think it's a foregone conclusion for most areas that they won't be turning a profit this season. Now it's about mitigating losses.
kingslug
Well-known member
I was there yesterday and while they did not blow snow conditions where "good"..no ice, boilerplate, etc..Frozen sugar is the best way I can describe it. And if you remember the way Clairs used to be if the season was like this one..it was fine, same as the frontside...used to be a sheet of ice moguls. They are blowing the best snow on the planet now and grooming the west side more which is making it at least skiable...
oakapple
New member
I assume they'll still use spot guns if there are bare patches that need filling in, but yeah, I'm sure they're in loss mitigation mode by now.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
I'm surprised to hear that, only because it's Hunter.
When you bill 75% of your marketing on having the "best" snowmaking in this world and 9 out of 10 extraterrestrial galaxies, I'd think they'd keep it up until at least the beginning of March. Especially since it does seem that temps are turning colder for a bit.
Warp Daddy
Active member
oakapple
New member
Well, "best" need not be perfect. It only needs to be better than what the others are doing. I don't think any ski area is blowing snow everywhere they theoretically could.
I've been to hunter about 10 times this year and have found it to be good skiing. Considering they've not had any window to run snow making more than 48 hours straight.
I was talking to one of the bosses who said attendance is way off this year. I would imagine they willbe taking a big loss.
I was talking to one of the bosses who said attendance is way off this year. I would imagine they willbe taking a big loss.
kingslug
Well-known member
Attendance sux..Sundays are not crowded at all, maybe a 5 minute wait..not that I'm complaining but it's not helping their bottom line.
Smellytele
Well-known member
I was pleasantly surprised this weekend when Pats Peak blew snow for at least 36 hours on Hurricane. It was an ice death trap before that and skied really nice Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday
xwhaler
Active member
Saddleback blew snow last week and got Red Devil open. Also on Sat they had fan guns cranking the length of the lift line on the double (Royal Coachman) and that should be ready real soon.
While I think some places are just going to wait for natual to hopefully come, others are still trying to get their terrain in the best possible shape for a last ditch effort during school vaca week.
While I think some places are just going to wait for natual to hopefully come, others are still trying to get their terrain in the best possible shape for a last ditch effort during school vaca week.
ScottySkis
Well-known member
Well they got Platty beat with snowmaking power for now
SKIQUATTRO
New member
pico is done blowing....glad to see that killington is still blowing....yea, thanks.
millerm277
Active member
For what point, is I think the question. They've got everything except 44 and Annapurna open except maybe a trail or two off the top of Hunter One.
They both need a huge snowmaking effort to open.
andrec10
Active member
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Annapurna needs about 3 solid days of Snowmaking. 44 needs 5! This year Claires is the best I have ever seen it (Thanks to snowmaking down both sides). They are still way better off than most mtns!
Smellytele
Well-known member
On the news in Boston one of the last few days they showed some snow numbers and there were some dates from the 30's that had less snow and some years in the past few that were near the highest. So not sure if snow fall is a good indicator of global warming
drjeff
Well-known member
If a good chunk of the rest of the Northern Hemisphere wasn't in the middle of a record setting cold and snowy winter, the the overall global warming concept would hold some more weight.
Things tend to average out in the end. Last year was cold and snowy for most of the lower 48 in the United States. This year we're warmer generally dryer. In the end when you look big picture and not try and micro manage every last detail, my guess is that combined the winters of 2010-11 and 2011-12 won't shift the overall historical averages at all
oakapple
New member
It's both. Over the long term, winters have been getting warmer. This is disputed by practically no one. The only dispute is whether human activity has anything to do with it, or if it's just a natural trend that would have happened anyway.
Over the course of this decades-long trend, there are substantial annual fluctuations, with this year being unusually warm. This is not the new normal. We will have colder, snowier winters again. That will not mean that the Global Warming complaints are overblown — unless, of course, there is a secular reversal of these long-term trends, something it would take decades of observation to establish.
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