Is this a record? 645 new snow guns for Mt Snow

[thetrailboss]

HS singing praises for Killington?! Did I hit my head or something?

 

[Brad J]

All I know that those newer electric compressors that Attitash has were so quiet last year you would swear they were not running !

 

[MadMadWorld]

HS singing praises for Killington?! Did I hit my head or something?

Killington is favorite child of many. They can do no wrong.

 

[steamboat1]

I wonder how much the loss of the power generated by the VT Yankee Nuclear Plant due to it's owner's essentially giving up trying to modernize it for decades more clean, cheap power generation via the numerous lawsuits filed by multiple groups (usually with environmental lobby ties) is also playing into this??

New England doesn't have the gas line infrastructure to deliver enough gas to power the new gas fired power generating plants when gas & electricity demand is at it's peak during winter months. With nuclear, petroleum & coal fired plants going off line because of regulation this problem will only be exacerbated in the future. Electricity prices went through the roof last winter because of this. It became cheaper to produce electricity from petroleum & coal fired plants then it was using gas. The option to use those sources for power will disappear shortly.

 

[drjeff]

New England doesn't have the gas line infrastructure to deliver enough gas to power the new gas fired power generating plants when gas & electricity demand is at it's peak during winter months. With nuclear, petroleum & coal fired plants going off line because of regulation this problem will only be exacerbated in the future. Electricity prices went through the roof last winter because of this. It became cheaper to produce electricity from petroleum & coal fired plants then it was using gas. The option to use those sources for power will disappear shortly.

Yup.

There's a 884 MW gas fired power generation plant located as the bird flies a couple of miles from my office that has 3 turbines. Last winter, but not so much this summer since we really haven't had any TRUE extended HOT weather to really stress the grid, the smoke stacks on all 3 were running full bore (on an "average" day there's typically just 1 turbine running and 2 running when it gets either a bit warm or cold). And they're in the process right now of running more large transmission lines to/from this plant as well as across a decent swath of Eastern CT and over into RI and MA.

One of my former college roommates is one of the "big whigs" in the CT gas Authority, and the stories he tells me about the idiocy surrounding most projects they want to create to ensure an abundant, cheap, clean power supply is scary. The amount of fear mongering. pure partisan doom and gloom dis-information out there to push a certain agenda is unreal

 

[Newpylong]

I think the quality of the snow put out by the Low-E guns is poor compared to regular air/water and obviously the fans - but I can see why many areas are going this way. The amount of savings is so significant it's worth the trade off. The areas keep around a small number of older Air/Water for early season to pick up the slack.

As for Mount Snow, since this was done with a grant, this will only help the mountain. Fuel isn't a buck a gallon anymore. They have shown early season is not a seller for them. If it was, they would open the North Face first like they used to using air/water. So the notion that they can't open early season is a moot point anyway. They also have mentioned South Bowl will get fan guns in the near future, so throw distance should be solved there.

Doesn't really matter what we think anyway, the mountain chose this route.

 

[Highway Star]

I'm fully aware WHY they use Low-E guns........cost savings. But the customer never sees lower prices, a longer season, more snow or better snow. But somehow they manage to spin it as an "improvement".

LOL.

 

[drjeff]

I'm fully aware WHY they use Low-E guns........cost savings. But the customer never sees lower prices, a longer season, more snow or better snow. But somehow they manage to spin it as an "improvement".

LOL.

I figure that the reality of lower costs to the consumer just won't be happening given ALL the increased costs that a business faces today, so then the next "best" thing is minimizing the increase in cost to the consumer that are caused by all the increased costs the ski area faces today.

Energy costs, employee wages, health insurance for full time employees, liability insurance, the cost of new groomers, the cost of new lifts, the cost of "routine annual maintenance" (mulch in K speak ;-) ), all that hasn't gotten less expensive over time either, and as someone who owns their own business, I am well aware of how increased costs essentially across the board do add up and more than likely if there is an expense item that does see a decrease in it's cost, that savings WILL be offset by increases of a similar, if not greater amount from other items :smash:

As for the spin side of things, I think we all can agree that any "enhancement" that has some "green" benefit is going to be played up from at minimum the green side of things. Whether or not there's any other actual improvement often becomes secondary then

 

[ScottySkis]

I think the quality of the snow put out by the Low-E guns is poor compared to regular air/water and obviously the fans - but I can see why many areas are going this way. The amount of savings is so significant it's worth the trade off. The areas keep around a small number of older Air/Water for early season to pick up the slack.


+! The new e Guns powder is not the same quailty as the fan guns for sure. But I happy that hills have them because they probably less snow now if they didnt have them.

 

[steamboat1]

http://spectator.org/articles/60007/get-ready-new-england-power-shortage

 

[Highway Star]

http://spectator.org/articles/60007/get-ready-new-england-power-shortage

Great article. AFAIK, a majority of Killington's air comes from diesel power, but they need electricity for the remainder and for the pumps, which has effected them and they have discussed the issue with their customers.

 

[steamboat1]

Great article. AFAIK, a majority of Killington's air comes from diesel power, but they need electricity for the remainder and for the pumps, which has effected them and they have discussed the issue with their customers.

I'm well aware of that.