Zero Snowmaking? WTF?

[jbkmart]

If this is true, it makes me unhappy.
I give K credit for their efforts until now. But with President's Week starting this weekend, wouldn't you think that some type of effort would be under way?
Am I out of line here?

[BigAirSkier1580]

There is no snowmaking occurring.

It's debatable as to whether or not it would be worth blowing. They have the snowpack all over the mountain. It's mainly just a matter of grooming good at this point.

[DrJeff]

What came across in an update on my blackberry this afternoon, is that OL is about to get assaulted before the weekend. The reality though is that more than likely barring any touch up work that large scale snowmaking is done for the year

[doofus]

Does anyone know the distribution of skier visits over the course of the year. My guess is that visits peak from presidents week until the end of February and then stedily decline in March and die out in April.

If that is the case and if one were running a business wouldn't it make sense to put the bulk of the yearly budget into providing the best product possible for peak business. It seems to me that Killington had done exactly that this year.

I presume that March/April visits are determined by the amount of snow and weather conditions- if they are good then there is no need for snowmaking. If weather is poor and little snow then only the few diehards go skiing and no amount of snowmaking would bring the average or fringe skier to the mountain.

I rent my home out when I do not ski and would love it if I had renters lining up to rent in March and April but if I were Killington I would not waste money Making Snow after Mid February.

I look forward to hearing the flaws in my logic

[lilywhite]

ummmm...you rent a ski place up here?????
wtf, exactly.

[rogman]

When it comes to snowmaking this year, I feel like the little kid that for Christmas got a fire truck, a football, a bicycle, a basketball, and a Red Rider range rifle (with a compass on the stock). If I were to whine after a haul like that, my parents would've left me behind at a McDonald's Playland or Orphan Annie'd me with Miss Hannigan. And I'd have deserved it. No complaints, they've done a great job with the snowmaking. It's easy to forget that they were a couple of weeks behind due to the warm November, but they closed the gap fast, and by Christmas were pretty much back on track. Right now, they could desperately use some natural, but all the trails with snow making have good coverage. They are well poised to take advantage of whatever nature gives them. Superstar and Needles have been buried recently, and even the Fiddle saw snowmaking. And Outer Limits is on deck. Life is good!

I expect that this year they will probably blow more snow than at any time in their history. And before any old timers with hazy memories start saying, "Oh, back in the day...", let me remind them that the pipe from Woodward Reservoir was a game changer. Killington didn't have the water back in Preston Smith's day (It was Les Otten who got the deal done, and had it built).

I even like how they've handled the last few, snowless, weeks. They've pretty much blown one or two trails at a time. Which meant that while most of the mountain was of necessity groomed flat, there was always a trail under the guns with fresh powder that was a lot of fun to ski. I suspect that was so they could get by on their own compressors and not use the rentals. I don't know the economics, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they pay a nominal parking fee, and that they are billed on hours of use, so using their own compressors when they can, saves money.

[MrsG]

^^^MrsG likes and agrees with this . . . we need a new emoticon

[Dr. NO]

I stated that they were either extending the season OR getting ready to shut down snow making.

Looks like #2 wins. I noted last weekend that where they had made snow and build a large base, all of the hoses are now gone. I would doubt they would have pulled the hoses off places like Superstar and Double Dipper if they had plans to make any more snow. If OL is being pumped again, expect those hoses to be off the mountain shortly after they turn the guns off.

[rogman]

Predicting the end of snowmaking around February vacation is kind of like predicting that spring will follow winter. They have good base depths for the coming week, and the weather outlook doesn't indicate the need for additional work in the short term. Long term, March is historically the snowiest month, with February just a tad behind. We might see a little more work on the SS glacier if there's a cold snap in March, but I think they're done.

[Geoff]

Long term, March is historically the snowiest month, with February just a tad behind. We might see a little more work on the SS glacier if there's a cold snap in March, but I think they're done.

Yeah, March. Just like last year.

Personally, I'd like some more snow on Skyelark. That was the place to be last year until it melted out.

[rogman]

Yeah, last March definitely sucked. Actually, right now sucks, too.

[MrsG]

Simmah down Doc . . . there were actually hoses set up on Wildfire today that were not there yesterday . . .

Oh, by the way telli - skiing was awesome today . . . forgot how effing steep lower Ovation is . . .

[Mister Moose]

It makes sense that there's a fair bit of labor cost in hosing up and maintaining a large rollout, like all of Superstar. So they run the guns nonstop like they did last week. It would be nice if the snow was spread out over more time, giving more numerous refresh events. Either they need the hoses elsewhere as they make snow on the mountain, or they don't like to have them buried as the season progresses, clearing freezes or kinks would be problematic.

All of this goes away if you line Superstar (and Skyelark) with automated fanguns that can self purge the water line. I would look forward to that day.

[sLoPeS]

snowmaking on upper bunny and middle easy street right now.

[millerm277]

snowmaking on upper bunny and middle easy street right now.

Actually, it's MTS, not upper bunny unfortunately. (I was skiing over there). Looked like the guns were moving up on Swirl as well when I was headed home on the High Ridge trail.

On another note, if they're going to make snow, turn on a gun or two on the last 300 feet of Upper Wildfire, it's a sheet of ice most of the way across with ice and rocks poking out.