 Poster: A snowHead
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Snowmaking is now a substantial international business, involving sophisticated technology and computerised systems, but not all resorts are state-of-the-art.
Snowmaking was invented in America, several decades before it was widely used in Europe from the 1980s. For this reason European snowmaking science, backed by substantial refrigeration concerns such as York, leapfrogged the ageing systems used in many US resorts. High European energy and labour costs were an added incentive to doing it efficiently.
Now, American ski resorts are catching up and installing some very advanced systems. This report from Rocky Mountain News focuses on the set-up at Keystone, Colorado, which has 75 mini weather stations and 400 snowguns.
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Inside the "control room," LeClair was keeping tabs on localized weather conditions at each gun. He also was checking the quality of the man-made snow particles.
If weather dictated, the computer could adjust the flow of water - and thus the flakes' size and wetness.
"I can get temperatures. I can get humidity. I can get snow quality. I can get everything off that," LeClair said of his computer. "I can click on the mouse and the gun will fire up like that," he said, snapping his fingers. |
In contrast, I remember reading another great article on this subject in Powder magazine, which followed the snowmaking nightshift and made it sound like an absolutely horrendous job - fixing frozen guns in freezing conditions.
Have you ever been licensed to own a snow gun?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A bit slow off the blocks today, DG!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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David Goldsmith, thank you!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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He deserves the Pulitzer prize. He doesn't deserve the mints.
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The Abominable snowHead, you should smell my breath!
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