Backstory: The snowmakers of New England ski country
Armed with 'Wizzards' and the laws of chemistry, snowmakers at New England resorts toil to create the 'perfect' snow.
from the March 14, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Man-made snow is derived from two ingredients – cold air and water – although the technology used to marry the two may differ. Traditional snow guns depend on compressed air to atomize the water into droplets, blowing and cooling them as they're released into the air. To give the droplets more "hang time" to freeze before they hit the ground, many places use tower-mounted guns. Other guns atomize the water with high-speed fans, while airless guns use nozzles to form a mist before fan-blowing the droplets up into the air.
None of this is cheap. A fan-style single hose compressor gun, for instance, can cost up to $30,000, and most resorts have an arsenal of guns – fan, ground-based, and tower. Stratton has 900, an impressive array of 12 different models including Avalanches, Wizzards, and Double Royal Knights. Add the cost of compressors and pumps, along with the electricity used to operate both, and it's easy to see why snowmaking is typically a resort's largest operating expense after salaries.
Given the costs (and skiers' unending desire for perfect snow), it's hardly surprising that resorts both tout and protect their snowmaking prowess. Sunday River has trademarked "the most dependable snow in New England" – produced, it says, by 1,750 guns and 2,200 hydrants. Stratton claims it could lay a road of snow from its location in Vermont to Boston's Fenway Park in 62 hours. Killington's website boasts that it possesses the world's most extensive snowmaking system – 88 miles of pipe over 756 acres – that creates "signature snow."
Asked what sets Killington snow apart, Tom Horrocks, Killington's communications manager, responds enigmatically: "the way we make it and the way we groom it." Pressed for specifics, he says, "I'd be giving away a lot of secrets if I said more."
Equally unsurprising is that the resorts view one anothers' snowmaking swagger with no small degree of skepticism. Of Killington's claims, one resort president says: "Killington does a good job of creating the illusion that they make the best snow. They do a lot of thumping their chest."
Often the hype extends to the men and women who make the snow. "The snowmakers are rock stars," says Tom Meyers, director of marketing at Wachusett. "They keep us in business."
The snowmakers themselves seem set apart from the commotion. "Everyone makes good snow," Killington's Mr. Lacombe says diplomatically of his competitors – a response that wouldn't get him hired to write copy for the company's website. Lacombe likes the job because of the guys he works with and because he's not stuck indoors. "The views, the sunrises and sunsets – those mean a lot," he says.
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