Best Snow making and why

[CordoroyJunkie]

I don't know about any of you guys, but I have always been impressed wi the guys at Loon, given their limited supply fromthe Pemigawsett (sp) River, they seem to always have excellent conditions props to the snowmaking and grooming crews there!

 

[andyzee]

Courtesy of dmc's site:



Now that's no joke! :-o

Sorry Greg, although I may be impressed by Hunter's snowmaking, the pic eh....

 

[ALLSKIING]

I probably shouldn't respond because this is a very biased opinion, but I have to toot the horn of our snowmaking team this year at Sugarbush. I was really proud of them. That's all I will say, and maybe there are some unbiased people who experienced snowmaking at The Bush this year who want to comment.

I would like to comment on the snowmaking Win, but.. the trip I took to the Bush this year was blessed with over 3 feet of snow in 3 days :-D

 

[riverc0il]

blowing the snow is only one part of making snow. what happens once that cloud settles is even more important. the places that blow the most snow tend to have some of the worst groomed snow surfaces i have skied on.

 

[AMAC2233]

I don't know about any of you guys, but I have always been impressed wi the guys at Loon, given their limited supply fromthe Pemigawsett (sp) River, they seem to always have excellent conditions props to the snowmaking and grooming crews there!

I agree. Loon always has great conditions and is usually one of the last NH areas to close in the spring. Although Loon often gets icy towards the end of the day (particularly weekends), they do a good job considering the amount of people that ski there. Instead of just blowing snow on the major trails, they cover a good portion of the trails all the time.

 

[kingslug]

I know some will disagree (alot of Crotched fans here), but Hunter does it best hands down. Most of the other hills who come close were trained by the Slutskys or those directors of snowmaking came from Hunter. The Slutsky's are known worldwide as the experts. When I went to Portillo, Chile I skied on snow made by a Hunter alum on alot of the inbounds lift served terrain. Same at many other places.

I've skied at many resorts worldwide, and I've never found manmade snow better than Hunter's.

That about says it all.

 

[Greg]

blowing the snow is only one part of making snow. what happens once that cloud settles is even more important.

This is true. Last season, Sundown blew a lot of snow during a cold snap in November. It was probably enough to open some terrain. Instead, they stockpiled it and didn't spread it around. There was a warm-up/rain at the end of November and once it got cold again, they were able to spread around the stockpiled snow and open at close to 100%. Of course the 1' powder dump at the beginning of December helped too! They also stockpiled a bunch of snow at the summit that kept them at 100% open from mid-December until late March. They even had enough snow to open a snowboard camp in the middle of April. Not bad for a little hill in CT!

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Got to vote for "The Crotch". 100% coverage with SMI Polecats. You can't get better than 100% state of the art. Yes, there are bigger systems, but K-mart, Someday Bigger, etc. depend on a certain percentage of older technology like HKD's. Granted, the do well with what they have, The Crotch just has better tools to work with. The level of automation at the Crotch is quite impressive. Very little labor required.

Runner up: B'East

I've never been to Huntah. For a place with older technology, Stratton certainly has it above the ASC resorts.

How about Tenny's "Snow Magic"? I guess now it's "No Magic"

 

[Greg]

Runner up: B'East

Hmmm...No offense, but when I think top notch snowmaking or grooming, Berkshire East doesn't immediately come to mind. I think Jiminy has it all over them in that regard. The natural terrain at the Beast is the best in southern New England without a doubt, however.

 

[AdironRider]

Loon is an ice sheet before 10 am boys, I dont know what days you went there but every time I went, even midweek, I was scraping along the ice. Seems like they do a good effort though of getting and keeping terrain open, albeit icy.

 

[DJAK]

One item to keep in mind when discussing this topic is the difference physical terrain makes in how a resort makes snow. The longer and flatter resorts (Okemo, BW and Stratton for example) can open a trail with very little depth and and quality but have it ski just fine since nobody really sets a hard edge when compared to the steeper and more gnar type terrain resorts. These trails also don't get "skied off" as quick since the snow is just being slid across and not edged into.

The Jiminys, K's, SB's and SR's have much more work to do in providing a reliable surface than the resorts that are more of a tilted golf course.

Ever wonder why the flatter resorts are always being talked about for their grooming? This is mostly why. It's simply easier to maintain this sort of terrain and keep it uniform, since it's alreay uniform underneath.

 

[thetrailboss]

One item to keep in mind when discussing this topic is the difference physical terrain makes in how a resort makes snow. The longer and flatter resorts (Okemo, BW and Stratton for example) can open a trail with very little depth and and quality but have it ski just fine since nobody really sets a hard edge when compared to the steeper and more gnar type terrain resorts. These trails also don't get "skied off" as quick since the snow is just being slid across and not edged into.

The Jiminys, K's, SB's and SR's have much more work to do in providing a reliable surface than the resorts that are more of a tilted golf course.

Ever wonder why the flatter resorts are always being talked about for their grooming? This is mostly why. It's simply easier to maintain this sort of terrain and keep it uniform, since it's alreay uniform underneath.

VERY good point.

 

[thetrailboss]

Got to vote for "The Crotch". 100% coverage with SMI Polecats. You can't get better than 100% state of the art. Yes, there are bigger systems, but K-mart, Someday Bigger, etc. depend on a certain percentage of older technology like HKD's. Granted, the do well with what they have, The Crotch just has better tools to work with. The level of automation at the Crotch is quite impressive. Very little labor required.

Again, I will say that Crotched and Pats have a big advantage because of their small size. I don't think it is fair to compare Crotched and K-Mart...kind of apples and oranges. Do you know how much it would cost to install Fan guns on the entire system at K-Mart?

 

[Newpylong]

Berkshire East? Don't see how that one could even come into the equation.. lol.

 

[ga2ski]

Here is my list in terms of mountains that i have skied (this will exclude some of the mentioned mountains like Okemo, Hunter, Jiminy, Crotched, and Bretton Woods)

In terms of pure size: Killington.

In terms of quality of the product: Sunday River. They can pump out amazing quanties while mantaining a great product. The snow the tower guns can make is almost as good as eastern natural powder. IMO.

In terms of being able to resurface the whole mountain after an NCP storm or freeze thaw cycle: Pat's peak (small mountain) although I bet Crotched is better, but I have never been there. In terms of large resorts, Sunday River can recover faster than any mountain I have ever been too.

In terms of most improved in the past few years: I would have to say Sunapee. Ever since Okemo management took contol they have done a stellar job.

In terms of the future leader in Snowmaking: Bretton Woods.Although I have never been there, they seem to be consistent with their long seasons and I hear their product is great.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Again, I will say that Crotched and Pats have a big advantage because of their small size. I don't think it is fair to compare Crotched and K-Mart...kind of apples and oranges. Do you know how much it would cost to install Fan guns on the entire system at K-Mart?

Well, how do we/what do we compare?

Quality of snow? Crotched (Runner up: B-East)

Total capacity? K-mart

Capacity per Acre: Crotched

Best quality for old technology? Stratton (Runner up:Sunday River)

Newest, sexiest automated technology? The Crotch

Best Snow that has nothing to do with snowmaking: Jay