Manmade -vs- Natural

[catherine]

Is there a difference?

 

[ss20]

Is there a difference?

Yes. Not a snow guru here, but I do believe their is almost no similarities between manmade and natural, other than that they're both slippery and involve frozen water.

 

[mister moose]

Is there a difference?

Are we talking about snow, clothing layers, or ...something else?

 

[catherine]

Are we talking about snow, clothing layers, or ...something else?

Let's stick to snow

 

[Edd]

Is there a difference?

Is this thread for real?

 

[Cannonball]

Is this thread for real?

It's man made

 

[catherine]

It's man made

Smart asses

 

[Hawkshot99]

Is there a difference?

Yea there is no natural to currently ski on. But I can ski the man made...

 

[drjeff]

Short version - at times there can be some really high quality manmade that is as good as most natural snow. At times there can be some natural snow that isn't as good as manmade. In general, manmade snow is more durable, but mother nature most of the time still has manmade beat

 

[Not Sure]

Microscopic view of man made snow

 

[deadheadskier]

Can't duplicate nature. Crotched comes the closest that I've skied. Best man made snow I've skied by far.

 

[VTKilarney]

Can't duplicate nature. Crotched comes the closest that I've skied. Best man made snow I've skied by far.

How much of that has to do with equipment versus skill?

 

[deadheadskier]

Probably a combination. Been skiing in New England for over 30 years now. I've skied almost every area here over 1000 vert and been a season pass holder at about 15 different areas. The fan gun snow they crank out at Crotched is incredible. Appreciably better than the fan gun snow I've skied at Attitash, so maybe that's the skill component.

 

[goldsbar]

Generalization - man made snow is basically little ice pellets. Great for a base and lasts forever since it's so dense. Natural is snowflakes. Drier air, colder temps and the proper air/water mix can get the fake stuff closer to the real stuff.

 

[ScottySkis]

I think I be happy to enjoy Hunter man made this Thursday should be epic. They started the fan gun technology many many years ago.

To answer the questions light natural powder over foot temps Lowe r then 20 and low humidity will always beat snowmaking snow but how often do we get that when we do you know I probably be in Roxbury skiing natural snow base. But because if where I live we are luck y to have snow blower crazy good snow at steep trail s . After this week most mountain s that are good at snowmaking should be lot of fun.

 

[catherine]

Snowmaking Basics

Man-made snow is real snow (not “artificial”) made by “guns” spraying atomized water particles under high pressure into the cold dry atmosphere, which freeze into snow particles before they hit the ground. The colder and drier the air, the more water can be put through the gun. No additive or chemical is put in the water. The only difference between natural and man-made snow is that the latter falls as small round pellets due to the air turbulence, while natural usually comes in the form of small to large flakes. However, in windy conditions even natural snow will be blown into small pellets or even marble-sized balls called “grapple”. Natural snow can be very wet or dry, depending on its water content, the same as with man-made. After two or three days on the ski runs, natural snow becomes indistinguishable from man-made as both are subject to skier traffic, grooming, and the freeze/thaw cycle.

 

[deadheadskier]

Solid post

 

[Cannonball]

Snowmaking Basics

Man-made snow is real snow (not “artificial”) made by “guns” spraying atomized water particles under high pressure into the cold dry atmosphere, which freeze into snow particles before they hit the ground. The colder and drier the air, the more water can be put through the gun. No additive or chemical is put in the water. The only difference between natural and man-made snow is that the latter falls as small round pellets due to the air turbulence, while natural usually comes in the form of small to large flakes. However, in windy conditions even natural snow will be blown into small pellets or even marble-sized balls called “grapple”. Natural snow can be very wet or dry, depending on its water content, the same as with man-made. After two or three days on the ski runs, natural snow becomes indistinguishable from man-made as both are subject to skier traffic, grooming, and the freeze/thaw cycle.

Wait, so you knew the answer the whole time? Darn trick questions get me every time...

 

[VTKilarney]

She copied it from here:
http://www.snowsummit.com/ski/mountain-info/snowmaking-grooming/

 

[4aprice]

Well maybe in the next couple of weeks we will find out as it look like some snow making weather is coming our way. I know when the weather conditions have been right, my home bump has been able to produce some very good quality snow. If it skis nice don't care if its natural or manmade.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ