Illustration by Todd Detwiler
At Hidden Valley Ski Area, a lull in winter weather doesn’t incite panic among the staff. Instead, they pump up to 6,500 gallons of water per minute through 100 snowmaking machines to cater to late-season snow bunnies. There’s typically about 225 hours of snowmaking per season, most of which is done at night. Here’s how it works.
1. “Typically, the temperature needs to be 28 degrees or below,” explains Hidden Valley general manager Fred Seymour. “The humidity level also influences when snow can be made.”
2. “To start the snowmaking process, we pump water under high pressure from our holding ponds,” says Seymour. Hidden Valley has three holding ponds with a capacity of more than 8 million gallons of water. “The water is distributed by a vast system of underground pipes and sent uphill to our fleet of snowmaking machines.”
3. “Each snowmaking machine consists of a ring or rings of specialized nozzles, which inject water into a large fan airstream. The small droplets of water and tiny ice crystals are mixed and propelled out by the powerful fan, after which they further cool through evaporation in the surrounding air.”
4. “The longer the water droplets are in the cold air, the more of them that will freeze into crystals. This is referred to as ‘hang time,’ which is why most of our snowmaking machines are mounted on towers.”
5. “Once the snow is produced, we begin the grooming process by using our three large grooming tractors, or Sno-Cats, to push the snow around the slopes, smoothing the snow surface.”
6. “Man-made snow crystals are not as sharp and fragile” as natural snow, says Seymour. “Man-made crystals have a more rounded shape, making them more durable and able to withstand continual grooming.”
7. As snow melts, it runs into the ponds, replenishing the water supply, which can be supplemented by a well.
