Whiteface Snowmaking ('10-11)

Post your reports here.

CONTENTS DELETED

Kid ... I snapped those screencaps a minute before I posted em around 1pm today.

While it might not go exactly as planned, I'm looking forward to the weekend.

The forecast for Whiteface doesn't look too bad to me if you are skiing Saturday.

If anyone is driving Thursday night or Friday am, be careful.

I was up at Whiteface yesterday for a media tour of their snowmaking operations.  Got to talk with Bruce McCulley, with Jon Lundin (ORDA PR Coordinator) and with the head of their snowmaking department, Mike Snow.  Yep, that's his real name.  You can see pics that I took out on the trails and at the pumphouse yesterday here.  Bruce and Jon talked about the plan for opening day, Friday, and beyond.  As of yesterday, things were on track for Friday.

Whiteface may open Friday with top to bottom skiing. Impressive.

From Whiteface:

"We will open Lookout on the 26th ... it's possible earlier, but to be safe will say the 26th.  We are currently working on Skyward, and when we leave Skyward to move to Lookout, will depend on wind and temps."

From Jon Lundin:

"Mother Nature has been kind with over two feet of natural snow the past few days.

Combine that with great snowmaking conditions and it’s a recipe for some great skiing and riding for the holiday weekend.

In fact, last weekend Whiteface, in Wilmington, N.Y., opened the Whiteface summit and the quad lift to Riva Ridge, Paron’s Run, the Follies, John’s By-Pass and Victoria.

There will be even more summit skiing and riding this weekend with the openings of Skyward and Niagara.

Photo: Paron’s Run atop of Whiteface is open for the 2010-11 ski and riding season. More summit trails are expected to open in time for the holiday.

Photo courtesy Whiteface/ORDA."

Great look inside the Snowmaking Machine at Whiteface posted on their FB page the other day:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=574715&id=107657715463&fbid=10150333503185464

Gives you a bit of appreciation for how complex a snowmaking operation really is.