Technoalpin Snowfactory

Jamesdeluxe wrote

How does this technology differ from the failed version (Snowmagic?) that was tried at Tenney NH a dozen years ago?

I was about to suggest sno take a look into Tenney's failed experiment. As I recall, it was only used once during a summer to make a VERY small "park" which was laughable to say the least. Sure was an interesting novelty at the time but I don't think it was ever used again and produced not much more snow than a zamboni piles up outside a skating rink.

Tenney used a chemical that raised the freezing point of water and there were likely environmental concerns about it, which game them trouble.

The Snow Factory uses regular water, so this is a non issue.  Originally when I suggested that a ski area might have 5 Snow Factories that was before I knew what the cost was.  I looked on their website earlier and didn't find the cost.  I'd say that a ski area could definitely benefit from installing one in their base area, and larger resorts might be able to get 2, for multiple base areas.  I've found that in the early season, the lift loading area is often sparsely covered and sometimes determines whether a place opens or doesn't.  Being able to cover that before there were freezing temps would make openings quicker and more reliable.

For something like the summer camp at Boreal, would they really have to buy the Snow Factory? Or are they only leasing it for a short period. From what I can tell, it comes on a truck. Just plug it in and supply water. When done, the truck drives away.

Found a video (in German) of the Snow Factory in use in Nov 2014 in Europe. Looks like the idea was to create a WROD and snow play area to get folks energized about the upcoming ski season.

https://youtu.be/BRbvbHG82GA?t=1m8s

Freeskier article

http://freeskier.com/stories/woodward-tahoe-can-now-make-snow-at-any-temperature-sparking-environmental-debate

Mountain Creek bought one for this year.  They're anticipating 12/03 opening for tubing and 12/10 opening for skiing.

I was thinking of how Whiteface would be able to make use of one of these.

They have a low base elevation where normal snowmaking isn't always enough to get the job done in the early season.  However, temps at the top of LWF are often good for snowmaking.

If you turn on the Snow Factory on November 1st, you could probably make enough snow to cover the run up to the top of Bear by the week before Thanksgiving.  Then use the regular snowmaking to cover the rest of the run as temps on the higher elevations are better.  I remember last year, snow coverage was good in the upper mountain, while the lower terrain still kept them from opening.