Mount Snow: Inside Track

[drjeff]

That's the smart thing to do, being 100% Low E looks good in a marketing campaign but as we've seen in the last week or two you're at a serious disadvantage in warmer temps.

Yup, having a few air hogs on hand for an opening push earlier than ever in late October for the immediate base area when Killington is the only other area open in VT and not even close to making snow for the public down to their base area makes perfect sense!

First world snowmaking "problems" for sure here!

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[IceEidolon]

What's the opportunity cost, a couple grand in lost Efficiency Vermont credits and a few square yards of storage space?

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[ss20]

They groomed out Freefall...

Saturday is tempting especially with natural snow in the forecast. Probably more like wet glop. I'd imagine with some traffic and wet snow maybe some bumps form.

 

[urungus]

They groomed out Freefall...

That’s a bummer but maybe they are smoothing out the base in anticipation of making some huge new whales Thursday night

 

[ss20]

That’s a bummer but maybe they are smoothing out the base in anticipation of making some huge new whales Thursday night

They won't be as huge as in years past if they blow and then don't groom. Perhaps this won't make the runout at the bottom an ice luge as it has been in years past then they'd flatten out freshly blown snow right before opening.

 

[ss20]

Noaa Albany posted their snowmap suite... 0" low end, 4"-6" expected at Mount Snow friday night-Sunday AM...

It also looks like they're blowing up top right now as the webcams are frosted over. No action at the base except melting hopes and dreams. :lol:

 

[machski]

I can tell you this, K hasn't made much progress on lower SS, they are blowing now but not much down yet. And that is what, 1000 feet higher elevation than Snow's base? Good luck, remember its still October!

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[WJenness]

I can tell you this, K hasn't made much progress on lower SS, they are blowing now but not much down yet. And that is what, 1000 feet higher elevation than Snow's base? Good luck, remember its still October!

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The fan guns down low on SS are now on. They were not a bit ago when I first looked at the web cam.

Hopefully temps are dropping.

 

[machski]

The fan guns down low on SS are now on. They were not a bit ago when I first looked at the web cam.

Hopefully temps are dropping.

Hasn't felt it, lower half guns in North Ridge we're getting pretty wet. They adjusted them (louder, so probably more air) and better but I'd have to say temps stable at best. Summit almost in the clouds so wet bulb is not low, a lot of humidity around. Wet bulb could be the same or slightly better down low away from the cloud deck and it's associated humidity.

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[WJenness]

Hasn't felt it, lower half guns in North Ridge we're getting pretty wet. They adjusted them (louder, so probably more air) and better but I'd have to say temps stable at best. Summit almost in the clouds so wet bulb is not low, a lot of humidity around. Wet bulb could be the same or slightly better down low away from the cloud deck and it's associated humidity.

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Thanks for the on the ground report.

Looks like K has fired up all the ground guns (K3000s?) on Supe at this point, as well as the fan guns at the base. I'm pretty sure those (ground guns) use a ton of air to get the job done.

All of the towers look to be off at this point.

 

[IceEidolon]

Snowlogic towers on SS like cold way more than Techno fans or K3000/Ratnik guns. I'm not surprised there's more noise than snow right now, big air gets LOUD when it's run lean. They also make much less snow, but something is better than nothing.

Does anyone know if there's a snow inducer being used? Snowmax or Drift are the brand names.

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[skiur]

To bring this thread back to Mt Snow, still nothing but patches on the base area cam, the green patches are bigger than the white ones.

 

[drjeff]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if WHEN they get the temps in the base area that they light up a few fans on the last hundred yards or so of exhibition to try and be able to farm a little extra snow into the base area to get coverage. It's going to be close, but I have faith that their mountain ops crew will make it happen one way or another!

 

[Newpylong]

Thanks for the on the ground report.

Looks like K has fired up all the ground guns (K3000s?) on Supe at this point, as well as the fan guns at the base. I'm pretty sure those (ground guns) use a ton of air to get the job done.

All of the towers look to be off at this point.

Yup - up to 600 CFM each. They own around 200 K-3000s, while not all in use at once it makes you realize why they have 72,000 CFM of air again with the World Cup.

In marginal conditions they will be using all of that and not converting much water into snow, around 10 GPM at the lowest nozzle mixture.

 

[drjeff]

Fans running in the base area for around an hour now. I'm sure the folks both on the hill making snow tonight and in the control center in the mtn ops building are closely watching the wet bulb and the on the ground output to ensure that the snow will be there for Saturday!

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[SnowRock]

Looking at latest forecast discussion seems like a decent shot of a few inches at Mt Snow tomorrow. Contemplating a maniac day trip from NJ... wind looks like the X factor, but could be manageable .

 

[WWF-VT]

Looking at latest forecast discussion seems like a decent shot of a few inches at Mt Snow tomorrow. Contemplating a maniac day trip from NJ... wind looks like the X factor, but could be manageable .

It's going to be a good day to test how waterproof your Gore-Tex gear is while you hope that 30 mph wind gusts don't effect lift operations.

 

[slatham]

Mt Snow, you have one of the best CAM setups of any area. Yet right now when everyone who cares is looking at them, then are a wet, icy mess (which I know is overall good because it means snow is being made). Couldn't someone do a pass every once in a while to clear them? The base CAM at least shouldn't be inconvenient for the marketing staff.....

 

[njdiver85]

Mt Snow, you have one of the best CAM setups of any area. Yet right now when everyone who cares is looking at them, then are a wet, icy mess (which I know is overall good because it means snow is being made). Couldn't someone do a pass everyone once in a while to clear them? The base CAM at least shouldn't be inconvenient for the marketing staff.....

Guessing the mad scramble to get the mountain open is to blame.

 

[Jully]

Guessing the mad scramble to get the mountain open is to blame.

I've never worked operations at a mountain, but how much of a scramble is it to open for a place like Snow? They announced a decent bit ago.

I'm not saying it isn't a TON of work, which I'm sure it is, I'm actually saying i feel like they would be more on top of it. Maybe its the sorta thing you can never be on top of though.