Strange Equipment Used to Maintain Trails at Ski Areas

[dlague]

What other odd equipment is out there? We already have a groomer porn thread. Now we have a place for all of the other equipment that we often do not see.

For this post we have this device!

It is called a compaction roller. Winch cat operators will lower it down steeper terrain early season when the snow is relatively shallow. The impact is similar to early season ski cutting or foot packing. The device breaks up snow slabs and compacts loose, early season snow. Considered a great tool for Ski Patrollers and Snow Cat Operators preparing trails for opening. Telluride and a few other areas have been using similar devices for several years. I think the Telluride crew invented it. Now A Basin has one.

 

[Jully]

That is fascinating. A really great tool to help get things open faster with a good base.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Someone had a picture of a device that went on the front of a groomer to break up hardback ice so that it could be tilled into "granular" easier.

This was a few years ago

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Someone had a picture of a device that went on the front of a groomer to break up hardback ice so that it could be tilled into "granular" easier.

This was a few years ago

Sounds like you're referring to front-mount renovators: http://www.yellowstonetrack.com/snowcatgroomingequipment/frontrenovators.html

Bully came up with a similar product that can be used in conjuction with the blade: http://www.pistenbully.com/fileadmin/content_pistenbully/modul_8_download/zubehoer_snowcutter_EN.pdf

 

[jimmywilson69]

Yes the renovator was the equipment.

Pistebully version is interesting as it can be retracted with the hydraulics.

 

[thetrailboss]

Very cool.

 

[benski]

Sugarbush has that piston bully attachment on all there groomers. I thought that was a standard part of groomers.


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[steamboat1]

I saw a couple of these the other day while driving up the Toll Road at Stowe.

 

[chuckstah]

Found at Jericho Hill, MA. Roller from many years ago.

 

[Smellytele]

I saw a couple of these the other day while driving up the Toll Road at Stowe.

Think that is used to smooth the snowmobile trails

 

[slatham]

Think that is used to smooth the snowmobile trails

In the old days these were used to pack down powder on trails otherwise groomed.

 

[jimmywilson69]

could also be for X-country trail compaction. Not sure if any of the X-Country trails use the lower toll road or not.

 

[Newpylong]

In the old days these were used to pack down powder on trails otherwise groomed.

Usually not that small, that is sized to be pulled by a snowmobile. The rollers used commonly to pack natural ski trails were full width aluminum.

 

[steamboat1]

Found at Jericho Hill, MA. Roller from many years ago.

They had one similar to that at the ski patrol museum in Stowe.

 

[steamboat1]

Think that is used to smooth the snowmobile trails

Not that small, that is sized to be pulled by a snowmobile. The rollers used commonly to pack natural ski trails were full width aluminum.

The roller I pictured is not the same as the ones I saw. The ones I saw were definitely the old style ruffled aluminum rollers used for grooming ski slopes. It's possible they're still being used to groom cross country/snowmobile trails.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Sugarbush has that piston bully attachment on all there groomers. I thought that was a standard part of groomers.


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Hmmm, I think you might just be seeing the blade. The actual PB renovator attachment is mounted behind & under the blade. All alpine snowcats have a blade with a toothy cutting edge. The renovator part is used for breaking hard/icy snow into chunks that the tiller can work with, when blading just isn't enough (or, to use PB's awkward literal German-English translation: For ripping up icy and encrusted slopes, renewing lift routes and removingglacier surface ice). I can't imagine any ski area running renovators on all of their blades, and Sugarbush definitely didn't when I was grooming there '08-'12. They're really only useful in icy/hardpack conditions.

 

[cdskier]

Hmmm, I think you might just be seeing the blade. The actual PB renovator attachment is mounted behind & under the blade. All alpine snowcats have a blade with a toothy cutting edge. The renovator part is used for breaking hard/icy snow into chunks that the tiller can work with, when blading just isn't enough (or, to use PB's awkward literal German-English translation: For ripping up icy and encrusted slopes, renewing lift routes and removingglacier surface ice). I can't imagine any ski area running renovators on all of their blades, and Sugarbush definitely didn't when I was grooming there '08-'12. They're really only useful in icy/hardpack conditions.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't recall seeing that other part behind the blade on any of SB's blades. Could be handy for those days when you go from warm and rainy one day to sub-zero/bulletproof the next though!

 

[machski]

Sunday River has a few PB's equipped with the renovator bars. It really does a nice job, but nothing can break up deep enough to keep it nice all day.

I recall several years ago Stowe would boast about when they rolled their powder with rollers vs running the power tillers over it. I do think rolling powder is better than tillers, less heat transfer in the process.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Sunday River has a few PB's equipped with the renovator bars. It really does a nice job, but nothing can break up deep enough to keep it nice all day.

I recall several years ago Stowe would boast about when they rolled their powder with rollers vs running the power tillers over it. I do think rolling powder is better than tillers, less heat transfer in the process.

Non-powered implements (roller or c-bar) make a significant difference in fresh snow. A tiller spins at up to ~1800rpm, and too many operators fall into the bad habit of "set it & forget it" at full tiller speed, because it's the easiest way to make an aesthetically pleasing pass. Unfortunately, it's also the quickest way to kill fresh pow and create a hard-pack base.

Pre-season here at Cooper, I like to bust out the roller. Better, IMO, than track-packing to set up a base. Once we open, we'll groom with c-bars until it firms up too much to leave a nice pattern. We're also 100% natural snow, so snow depth is a concern early season as far as tillers go.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Alright, how about the original groomer: the Bradley Packer, invented by Steve Bradley, then GM at Winter Park, CO. The Packer "Pilots" quite literally took their lives into their own hands running these things. The primary goal was to be able to smooth out surface lift tracks. But, quite unfortunately, Steve also intended them to do away with moguls, freely admitting that he wanted them smoothed out because he was no good at skiing bumps!