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Interesting Summary of Killington's Snowmaking Energy Use

RootDKJ

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I found this article interesting from an engineering perspective so I thought I'd share it with everyone. I hope this doesn't turn into a K sucks at snow making or K should blow more snow on XYZ trail thread.

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/Imaging/Planning/1R0322-11/Snomaking Energy Conservation Narrative.pdf


I know they rent a bunch of diesel compressors each season, but I wasn't sure if they were air or water. I also didn't realize that there is a lot of ingress/egress in their air distribution system.
 

Geoff

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I found this article interesting from an engineering perspective so I thought I'd share it with everyone. I hope this doesn't turn into a K sucks at snow making or K should blow more snow on XYZ trail thread.

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/Imaging/Planning/1R0322-11/Snomaking Energy Conservation Narrative.pdf


I know they rent a bunch of diesel compressors each season, but I wasn't sure if they were air or water. I also didn't realize that there is a lot of ingress/egress in their air distribution system.

Great find! Thanks.

Killington ops calls the snowmaking system the world's largest sprinkler. When the American Skiing Company got into financial trouble in 1999, Killington pretty much ignored preventative maint on the snowmaking system for 8 years and small leaks were completely ignored. Last year, the new owners spent millions replacing the worst of the pipe and valves. It will probably take them a half dozen years to bring the system back how it was when Preston Smith sold the place. It's the largest snowmaking system in the world and much of the pipe is 30 or more years old.

Swapping in energy efficient guns is good business sense. With today's energy costs, I'd think that would pay for itsself quickly.
 

Talisman

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I hope Powdr didn't pay a lot for that engineering analysis. Geoff's point about the sad state of the Killington snow making piping systems is too true. It is common to hear compressed air leaks and see water leaks in the system. The snow making infrastructure is easily degraded through benign neglect and hard to regain, ask Magic Mountain.
 

Marc

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I know they rent a bunch of diesel compressors each season, but I wasn't sure if they were air or water. I also didn't realize that there is a lot of ingress/egress in their air distribution system.

Since water compresses very little, most of the time they're called water pumps, or air compressors... :dunce:
 

Talisman

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Since water compresses very little, most of the time they're called water pumps, or air compressors... :dunce:

I almost replied with a remark about the compressibility of water and refrained because he might have been talking about air versus water cooled air compressors.
 

Newpylong

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I don't remember when I went for a run down Sunrise after they closed it... did they yank the Snowmaking pipes from the runs that were covered over there?
 

Geoff

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I don't remember when I went for a run down Sunrise after they closed it... did they yank the Snowmaking pipes from the runs that were covered over there?

I'm pretty sure they actually use the old pipes at Sunrise to pump water from the Woodward Reservoir up to the Bear Mountain snowmaking pond. I believe the line Killington put in from the Woodward north up Route 100 to the bottom of where the Northeast Passage lift used to load at the junction of Rt 4 and Rt 100 is a syphon with no pumps needed. They built a pump house near the base of the old loft to get the water up the hill to the snowmaking pond at Bear and they can then pump the water again to get it up to the Snowshed pond. Until ASC put in that pipeline and got the permitting, Killington always had snowmaking water supply problems. It got worse when they built that Grand Summit because they had to leave some water in the pond for the fire department. Now, it's pretty much infinite water supply.

I imagine there was a lot of snowmaking pipe at Sunrise that wasn't needed to move water. I have no idea if they left it there to rust or removed it to reuse or sell as scrap.
 

SpinmasterK

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I don't remember when I went for a run down Sunrise after they closed it... did they yank the Snowmaking pipes from the runs that were covered over there?

Yes, we removed more than 5,000 feet of pipe from the old Sunrise/Northwest Passage areas this summer. That pipe - which is in great shape - is currently being installed on the new lower section of Gateway, Great Northern and The Stash.
 

SpinmasterK

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I found this article interesting from an engineering perspective so I thought I'd share it with everyone. I hope this doesn't turn into a K sucks at snow making or K should blow more snow on XYZ trail thread.

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/Imaging/Planning/1R0322-11/Snomaking Energy Conservation Narrative.pdf


I know they rent a bunch of diesel compressors each season, but I wasn't sure if they were air or water. I also didn't realize that there is a lot of ingress/egress in their air distribution system.

We have completed a seven-year program to change all our compressors over to the new Tier III units (rental ones). They are the most energy-efficient and also portable, so we can move them from the Snowshed, Bear, and Pico pods as needed. We're also spending more than $1 million on new valves, hardware/software for snowmaking control, pipe and Low E guns for this season. I will have to find out on the RGB guns, but I do know that we have also purchased some of the HKD guns as well.
 

Rogman

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I'll take a stab that RBG refers to Ratnik Baby (snow) Giant.
bsg_quebec.jpg

The snow making infrastructure at Killington is pretty impressive, even if the actual on hill piping is "suspect". There were a few blowouts last year, but it is obvious that POWDR is getting after it, both at Killington and Pico. The additional valving, allowing more sections to be isolated, will help considerably.

Tom, has Killington considered doing "tours" of the system? I know that Sunday River has done it. I think you'd find there was more interest than you'd expect.
 

Newpylong

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Yes, we removed more than 5,000 feet of pipe from the old Sunrise/Northwest Passage areas this summer. That pipe - which is in great shape - is currently being installed on the new lower section of Gateway, Great Northern and The Stash.

Thanks Geoff and Spin for your answers. I knew besides the main run down (Sundog?) there were some steeper runs off Hawk's Nest that had snowmaking (Judge, Gold Dust, Thunderball, perhaps?).
 

SpinmasterK

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I'll take a stab that RBG refers to Ratnik Baby (snow) Giant.
bsg_quebec.jpg

The snow making infrastructure at Killington is pretty impressive, even if the actual on hill piping is "suspect". There were a few blowouts last year, but it is obvious that POWDR is getting after it, both at Killington and Pico. The additional valving, allowing more sections to be isolated, will help considerably.

Tom, has Killington considered doing "tours" of the system? I know that Sunday River has done it. I think you'd find there was more interest than you'd expect.

We do line up tours for the media. In fact, we're showing a meda group the system in December. While we haven't hosted a formal public tour, I like the idea of showing folks how the system works. Also, for a first hand look, Killington, and pretty much every resort in the Northeast, is hiring snowmakers for the coming season!
 

Rogman

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SpinmasterK said:
Also, for a first hand look, Killington, and pretty much every resort in the Northeast, is hiring snowmakers for the coming season!
Thank you for your generous offer of employment, unfortunately, I must decline. It turns out I'm lazy. Those guys work nights: come 4PM, I'm looking for a hot tub and a cold beverage. Besides, I'm not sure giving me the "keys" to the Killington snowmaking system is such a good idea. Do you really want to be answering questions from your boss like, "Waddaya mean we're already making snow on Northridge???". Still, it would give me a leg up on Bubba's wine contest.
 

Geoff

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The allmighty Google told me what Tier 3 was... It's the EPA standard for non-vehicle diesel engines. The standard is recent enough that we know Killington is renting modern air compressors that are likely to be fuel efficient (good for them) and reliable (good for us).

I'd completely forgotten that SkippySnow, the Polyanna dental drill bit factory worker from Bridgewater on the KZone web site, put up a shot of all that piping coming out over the summer.

Like usual, my only beef with Killington is the shortened season. Other than that, the new owners are far better than anything we've seen in the last decade if you accept the premise that they are running as lean as possible to maximize operating profit to repair the long-ignored mountain infrastructure. I can deal with a delayed opening until they can support top-to-bottom. White Ribbon of Death in October was always a tradition for me but I can certainly understand the cost/benefit analysis of the first to open PR versus the risk of blowing snow that's just going to melt and operating the mountain unprofitably for a few weeks in early November. I have lots of friends with places at Mount Snow and Sunday River for opening day turns. It is what Killington did last April closing on the 20th with all that snow pack was reprehensible.

RE: Killington employment offer as a snowmaker
I'm unemployed for the winter but I'm in a position where my unemployment compensation check is the same size as a Killington snowmaker check. I'd rather ski every day and get my season pass per-day cost down below $10.00/day.
 
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