Gore Mtn Snowmaking (10-11)

Harv, Great report, looks and sounds like you had a blast.

I had a chance to get out Sunday & skied Topridge shortly after they dropped the ropes.  Coverage was good on what was open but not to be the pessimist here I have to ask the question...why were they only blowing Topridge?  Maybe they blew a lot more after the lights went out or maybe when there's no skier traffic.  i don't know.  Maybe the compressors aren't powerful enough to blow more than 1 trail at a time.  i don't know.  Maybe that's simply the way they do it.  i don't know.  all i know is when you go to other ski areas this time of year, including whiteface, it seems as if they're blowing the crap out of everything they can.  

can someone give me a real answer as to why gore does this?  just curious...

guns on lower sunway, topridge, pineknot, assuming some on tannery?, and foxliar today.

Jmokes, didn't you see the guns going on Pine Knot?  Also Lower Sunway and Foxlair in addition to Topridge.  Seemed like a very solid effort to me given that temps were probably marginal for optimum snowmaking.

Jmokes! ... nice to have you here.

Gore's full-on capacity is right around 15 acres per day.  Meaning in 24 hours Gore can cover 15 acres in one foot of snow.  (That compares to about 80 acres per day for Kmart.)

For context, Showcase is around 18 acres I think.  

Based on that, Gore was probably blowing at capacity most of the weekend with various combos of Topridge, Pine Knot, Tannery, Sunway.

Did they start on Foxlair on Sunday? If so, I like it.

Love this pic Nick:

Yea i love it too. I am aiming to take a lot of pictures this year of the snowmaking efforts and a lot of video. Hopefully I will be able to put it to use and make a short film. More pictures will follow next week of this coming weekends snowmaking efforts.
Here is aone of my friend Graham Irish in the terrain park for show.

Harvey44 wrote

Gore's full-on capacity is right around 15 acres per day.  Meaning in 24 hours Gore can cover 15 acres in one foot of snow.  (That compares to about 80 acres per day for Kmart.)

Probably a more useful comparison is to Whiteface, whose capacity is double Gore's at around 30 acre/feet per day.  So yeah, Gore is in need of some capacity upgrades, as has been discussed here before.

We all know that 15 acre/feet is a maximum capacity that's dependent on many variables, and I doubt conditions (temp & humidity) during the day on Sun allowed the system to operate at its theoretical max.  But the bottom line is that they were probably running the system about as hard as it could be run from Friday on.  I saw no reason for any complaints about the snowmaking effort this weekend at all, just the opposite.

Great post Harv...especially as one who sometimes hears the quiet sound of snow guns roaring in the distance at night, it was very interesting to get a better idea of what happens with snomaking at the Mountain after ski hours.  

Whiteface has half the acreage of Gore and double the snow making capacity?  When you lay it out as clearly as that, ORDA really needs to address the issue. I too can hear the roar of the snow guns when I am in North Creek.  It creates an awesome sense of anticipation.

Gore Snowmaking Update:
The r@!n has taken a toll however the tail end of the storm will bring up to 3in of natural snow. "after the storm passes we will do what we always do- go back at it with the guns. We still anticipate Topridge, Pine Knot & Tannery reopening Friday but stay tuned. Good news is the amount of rain has been scaled back, with up to 3 inches of snow tonight."

 from gore referring to the snowmakers: "They'll be getting us back open (skiers and riders should be advised the weather could delay our opening tomorrow morning, as groomers need temps to freeze before they can head out) and working on Topridge, Tannery, Pine Knot, Lower Sunway, and 3B."

Now that you mention it  do remember the guns going on the top of pine knot & the top of sunway. I really didn't realize that we were so limited on snow production.

So we've got twice the acreage as the face, more skier visits annually than the face, generate more revenue for orda than the face & half the snowmaking capacity?  Doesn't really seem fair now does it?  Anyone ever think of going to those open orda meetings & trying to get answers to those questions???

Yep.

I

the mokes wrote

So we've got twice the acreage as the face, more skier visits annually than the face, generate more revenue for orda than the face & half the snowmaking capacity?  Doesn't really seem fair now does it?  Anyone ever think of going to those open orda meetings & trying to get answers to those questions???

If you owned a big resort (Lussi, Weibrect) in Lake Placid and sat on the ORDA board you would think it is plenty fair.

From Gore:

Ma nature not completely on board until later tonight. Base has been warm. Night lows reaching 30'+. Been making snow up top, but days are reaching 30'.  Forecast has been better than real weather.  Recovery and expansion proceeding, but slowly.

1 run down east side, grooming Topridge tonight, Pine Knot and Tannery will be thin.

Should be good weekend, with limited terrain. Plan is good, with snowmaking on Foxlair, Lower Sunway, 3B, but we aren't done with anything else.

Thanks for the update.  It is awesome of the mountain to give us a more detailed report.  Gotta give credit where credit is due!

From Gore:

Good night for us.

Temps reached 24' in base area.

Foxlair is close. Tannery thin, but open with snowmaking.

Grooming on Topridge turned out well.

From Gore Mtn:

"We'll open up the Sunway Lift Friday, with Bear Cub, and Conveyor.

Water charge to Gore Summit tomorrow.

If all goes as planned, look for Straightbrook on Saturday."

Straightbrook this weekend would erase the memories of last year's early snowmaking challenge