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Current Drought: When do we start worrying about water levels in snowmaking ponds?

podunk77

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I hear a lot about the drought on the TV news but haven't seen any mention on the board. Should we be worried for the upcoming ski season?
 

deadheadskier

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Im a bit concerned for Wildcat. While their pond is full, it's quite small and there's a limit to how much water they can draw to refill from Thompson's and Peabody Brooks. If they are running low this winter it could cut into how much water they can pump up the hill.
 

Tin

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This winter is going to be so good that this won't matter much.


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chuckstah

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Merrimack river in Southern NH is low! Streams feeding it that used to give up a fair amount of brook trout are dry even after close to 2 inches of rain yesterday. The ground absorbed all the rain and still needs a lot more. Plenty of time for rain, but I'm concerned about areas with limited water. This area of the river usually only shows the one big rock. And often not even that1470963156859.jpg
 

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Tin

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I agree there's still plenty of time, but I'm at least getting a bit worried for places with more limited resources like Wildcat, possibly Crotched too?

Crotched's pond is so small I don't think it would take much to fill it up.
 

Jully

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Crotched's pond is so small I don't think it would take much to fill it up.

But where do they get their water from to feed the pond? If it's somewhere low flow or restricted it could be trouble. It is tiny though so even a slightly below average fall would fill it up no problem
 

deadheadskier

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Mountain runoff and I assume spring water for the most part from what I've seen. There's no river to draw from. Some boggy areas nearby, but I don't believe they pump from there. Water is an issue at the start of most seasons. They pretty much drain the pond blowing open a few trails, wait for a refill and then expand terrain again.
 

jack97

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I recall Peak Resorts choose the now Crotched location over Temple. One of several reasons was access to water, which leads me to believe they do pump it from the town.

Here's an old article, Crocthed's (two) reservoir was planned to hold 30 million gallons of water. I seriously doubt mountain runoff can fill the reservoir when we get torched due the jan or early feb thaw. I was told they can blanket all groom trails in two days and witness the end results, the reservoirs did look somewhat used.

http://archive.boston.com/sports/other_sports/skiing/articles/2004/01/22/mountain_for_the_masses/


Pumping from public water is not unheard of. Around the same time Crotched opened, Ragged's owners (the construction brother) had a big town water bill to pay off and that lead to their debt problems and eventual sell off. Wa-Wa pumps from the town/state reservoir nearby but they pay no taxes due to the leasing agreement.
 
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jack97

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My inner geek is coming out.....

Crotched claims their snow making capacity takes in 6000 gallons of water/min. The 48 hr for complete (groomer trail) coverage is something I have heard since they opened. So, another way to look at it is they will use 17.28 million gallons in that 48 hr period, w/ snowmaking at max capacity. Assuming they fill the reservoir to the max, they will use 57.6%, leaves slightly less than a half for wiggle room or maybe they don't fill the pond to the brim.
 
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Quietman

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Crotched does not pump from anywhere, there is nothing to pump from. Bennington has a small municipal system but is too small and too far away. The mountain has a drainage system that funnels all of the flow from the north side of the mountain into a big drain between the rocket and the lodge that feeds into the upper pond, then into the lower pond. They do refill in the winter, but slowly when it's really cold. They also have to maintain a minimum level in the ponds for fire fighting.

In Peterborough, we got almost 3" of rain yesterday, but the ground sucked it up really fast!
 

Quietman

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The 48 hr for complete (groomer trail) coverage is something I have heard since they opened.

They can open terrain fast, but from bare ground to a good base would take a lot more than 48 hours. Maybe 48 hours for a complete resurface.

And I'm not doubting your figures, but I've seen the ponds pretty much empty after getting just Moonwalk, Galaxy, Meteor, Satellite Summit, Milky Way, Super Nova and Launch Pad open from scratch.

That being said, here's hoping for a white Thanksgiving and a good winter to follow.
 

deadheadskier

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Didn't they once light up every gun on the mountain to see if they could do it and cause a minor brown out locally resulting in the electric utility calling them to shut it down? Or is that just local folklore?
 

yeggous

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I'm not worried about Wildcat. The drought is not nearly as bad up there. Last weekend in North Conway the grass was green everywhere.

Crotched on the other hand... They have water problems in a good year.


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