
How Snowmaking Works - zo1
https://www.skiroundtop.com/how-snowmaking-works
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DarkTree
I grew up snowboarding Roundtop and it's sister Ski Liberty without having
truly experienced real powder. As a kid, it was easy to believe that snow-
making was just a part of all ski resorts, and it didn't occur to me that
bigger mountains don't need them. Then I went out to Lake Tahoe, and it was
nothing short of magical. The night I arrived, the skies blanketed the
mountains with two feet of fresh powder. Cruising through the trees that next
morning in the real snow is something I'll never forget.

Still, there was something about riding a slow chairlift up my small, local
mountains with the freezing wind whipping your numb face, and then getting
blasted with icy man-made snow as your chair glides through the path of a
snowblower.

~~~
randlet
"Cruising through the trees that next morning in the real snow is something
I'll never forget"

Yes! The first true powder run you make in your life after skiing/boarding for
20+ years on east-coast hardpack is a nearly religious experience.

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grecy
After working many years in various ski resorts, I'm still convinced there's
billions to be made if someone can crack "man made powder"

This article does a good job of explaining the difference between natural
snowflakes and man-made "ice flakes" (natural stuff is mostly air), and I've
always wondered why someone hasn't figured out how to make powder on a large
scale.

A resort that can guarantee 5+ inches of powder every day is a license to
print money.

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heynk
I grew up skiing roundtop's sister resort, ski Liberty. Their resorts are
really amazing at snowmaking, and all of their facilities for snowmaking are
state of the art. Perhaps even crazier is that they can afford it, but by
being the closest resort to DC, they'll gather insanely long lift lines on a
decent winter weekend.

Edit: I wanted to add that the results of their snowmaking, after it's been
groomed, is actually pretty enjoyable and a lot higher quality then any fake
snow you'll find in the west. Last winter when I was suffering from no snow in
the PNW, I was seriously jealous of the mid-atlantic's snowmaking abilities.

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maaaats
My hometown in Norway this year took this even further. When spring came, they
gathered as much snow they could in a big pile and covered it with white
plastic. Then redistributed it out over the slopes this fall. Made it possible
to start making snow earlier (making snow on hot ground makes it instantly
melt).

~~~
anthonybsd
Wow, that's the first I've heard of it. What Ski resort, if you don't mind me
asking?

~~~
maaaats
Geilo, specifically, but many others in Norway have tried this year as well.

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basseq
Ah, east coast skiing: Roundtop's local(ish) to me, but I don't think I've
skied there. Snowmaking truly is an incredible undertaking (and the epitome of
first world problem), but the product doesn't compare to the real thing.

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Wonnk13
native New Englander living in the mid-atlantic now. I remember the sound of
snow guns all throughout the night from the resort on the other side of our
mountain. Now i'm homesick

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mojoe
The fact that the cooled compressed air expands upon exiting the machine is
also very important -- this, along with impurities in the water, allows
nucleation to happen immediately as the water exits the nozzles. More info
here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowmaking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowmaking)

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pablobaz
This article doesn't mention one of the most interesting aspects of snowmaking
- the addition of bacteria to the water to increase the
productivity.[http://web.mst.edu/~microbio/BIO221_2010/P_syringae.html](http://web.mst.edu/~microbio/BIO221_2010/P_syringae.html)

