Blowing Out the Mice?

[Sky]

fixed it for ya

And people think this place is "over-moderated". Heh!

*ducking and covering*

:>

 

[ski_resort_observer]

From what I hear many resorts in NE are planning to start snowmaking around Nov 1st.

 

[St. Bear]

Think anyone will do it this year? It used to be a common practice that was used as a photo opp, most notably by Killington. Not that it really means anything, but it still stoked the jones.

When I read this, I expected to see pictures of mice shooting out of the guns.

 

[Skimaine]

They come out in such small bits they are hard to see.

 

[SpinmasterK]

Tom (spinmasterK)... you know you want to blow a patch for folks to enjoy on columbus day weekend... weather permitting...

what could possibly be better than peak foliage, a brewfest, a massive ski swap, cool crisp weather and a patch of white for the crazies to have a blast on?!?!

i will get pictures of people enjoying that patch at Killington ALL OVER the internet and get people stoked for skiing... dude... you HAVE to do it you HAVE THE POWER

Great idea, but ... for what it costs to make snow these days, we would prefer that the snow sticks around so we can use it for more folks to enjoy! Not just you and me grinning for a publicity shot

 

[RootDKJ]

They come out in such small bits they are hard to see.

yeah...looks just like

 

[SkiDork]

Great idea, but ... for what it costs to make snow these days, we would prefer that the snow sticks around so we can use it for more folks to enjoy! Not just you and me grinning for a publicity shot

Beancounters FTW!

 

[RootDKJ]

Beancounters FTW!

:uzi:

 

[gpetrics]

Great idea, but ... for what it costs to make snow these days, we would prefer that the snow sticks around so we can use it for more folks to enjoy! Not just you and me grinning for a publicity shot

yeah i know i know... couldn't you make just a few hours worth with a gun or two down on snowshed right near the main pumps (wx permitting) for cheap? i have to imagine it wouldnt take much personnel or energy to get just a little PR snow on the ground for anyone who wants to enjoy.... then you could let any tom dick or harry try out their new ski swap purchases on a little patch via their own legpower? and all the brewfesters could oogle at the snowmaking power of mighty killington and plan to come back all winter?

you know the costs better than i though... so it's not really worth arguing over... i dont even need a thoughtful response... but in my imaginary world it sounds like a great idea 8)

 

[SkiDork]

yeah i know i know... couldn't you make just a few hours worth with a gun or two down on snowshed right near the main pumps (wx permitting) for cheap? i have to imagine it wouldnt take much personnel or energy to get just a little PR snow on the ground for anyone who wants to enjoy.... then you could let any tom dick or harry try out their new ski swap purchases on a little patch via their own legpower? and all the brewfesters could oogle at the snowmaking power of mighty killington and plan to come back all winter?

you know the costs better than i though... so it's not really worth arguing over... i dont even need a thoughtful response... but in my imaginary world it sounds like a great idea 8)

brewfest is the weekend _before_ Columbus day/Ski swap weekend.

 

[gpetrics]

brewfest is the weekend _before_ Columbus day/Ski swap weekend.

as you can tell... i've done my due diligence in pleading for a patch of snowmaking

i really just want snow... can you blame me?

 

[bigbob]

Yea Tom, we all need a snow patch to put on our arms like people who smoke put on a nicotine patch. Both diseases are addictive!

 

[SpinmasterK]

yeah i know i know... couldn't you make just a few hours worth with a gun or two down on snowshed right near the main pumps (wx permitting) for cheap? i have to imagine it wouldnt take much personnel or energy to get just a little PR snow on the ground for anyone who wants to enjoy.... then you could let any tom dick or harry try out their new ski swap purchases on a little patch via their own legpower? and all the brewfesters could oogle at the snowmaking power of mighty killington and plan to come back all winter?

you know the costs better than i though... so it's not really worth arguing over... i dont even need a thoughtful response... but in my imaginary world it sounds like a great idea 8)

It is a great idea, under the right conditions!

 

[Johnskiismore]

Up in Berlin my girlfriend has scraped frost off of her windshield three times so far!

This epics from SR bring back nice memories!

 

[ctenidae]

This colloquialism has always reminded me of an activity Richard Gere, and ctenidae, would probably enjoy immensely.

Gerbils, actually.
And teh occasional hamster because, as you know, they're furrier

 

[tcharron]

We started last week blowing out the lines in certain areas, especially those that saw upgrades. Hopefully in about five weeks, we'll be blowing some snow.

 

[Puck it]

Even if it is just water!!!!!!!

 

[speden]

Great idea, but ... for what it costs to make snow these days, we would prefer that the snow sticks around so we can use it for more folks to enjoy! Not just you and me grinning for a publicity shot

How much DOES it cost to make snow these days? A lot of ski resorts say it is expensive, and I believe them, but as an engineer I'd like to see some hard numbers to understand the magnitude of the cost.

Anyone seen any equations where you can put in the cost per Kwh, air temp, humidity, price of diesel per gallon, gun type, hourly wage, elevation of the gun above the water source (am I leaving out anything?), and click calculate and out pops the cost per cubic yard of snow?

Seems like a resort could write software to calculate the cost benefit analysis of blowing snow on a particular trail on a given night given the current conditions, the trail characteristics (i.e. north facing, width, length, elevation, popularity, etc.), the projected weather forecast, and the number of days remaining in the season. Does something like that exist? I'd hate to think resorts just swag when and where to blow snow with no quantitative data to base the decisions on.

 

[billski]

How much DOES it cost to make snow these days? A lot of ski resorts say it is expensive, and I believe them, but as an engineer I'd like to see some hard numbers to understand the magnitude of the cost.

I read some numbers about five years ago and snowmaking was 20-30% of the total cost of a healthy, well-run resort. That of course assumes a good revenue flow. It is mainly energy costs. Labor costs are the highest portion of the pie, running 50%+.

 

[ERJ-145CA]

Too bad it's 2/3 of the way across the country but Loveland is making snow.

http://www.skiloveland.com/snowmaking/