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How to make snow????????

mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a dumb question what is the procedure that ski companies use to make snow????:smileywac High pressure water misting?? You tell me??? Maybe I could cover my three acres with about 2ft of man made snow!!:yum: :yum: :pat:
 

mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
Maybe I should just turn my sprinkler system back on and have 2ft of ICE!!!:yum: :pat:
 

79bombi

Member
Site Supporter
There seem to be various systems, Compressed Air pushing water into the air, Gravity pressure pushing water into the air, large electric fans pushing water into the air. You need low humidity, lots of electric, and lots of water. I believe there is a system called backyard blizzard http://www.backyardblizzard.com/

I believe my local ski area uses SMI http://www.snowmakers.com/

Being a skier after snowcats, snowmaking is also a big interest to me.


79Bombi
 

79bombi

Member
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bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
mbsieg said:
what is the procedure that ski companies use to make snow????
Things have changed since my skiing days...

It used to be:
Fill the lodge with skiiers
Provide lots of beverages
Send them to the slopes.
Let them pee into the wind.
Depending on temp, you either got snow or ice.
The skiiers didn't care much. (See beverages above).

Sounds like you need to have a party! :burp: :thumb:

WARNING: If you think you want to have a party and invite ForumsForums members, read THIS thread first. :yum:
 

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
In the 60's & early 70's most of the Ski Areas that I skiied at use a 2 hose system. I believe one was hot water and the other was compressed air. They were noisy and obnoxious and tended to foul up alot. Employees of the ski area were always out trying to get a hose or snow gun thawed out. In 1971 I met the man who invented and patented a 'snow cannon' that had a much larger single hose running to it(about the size of a fire hose) and a ring with dozens of small nozels. There was what looked like an airplane prop and a gas or electric engine. The inventor originally owned and managed Mt Snow, one of the largest and most developed Ski areas in Vermont which he later sold and moved to Mass where he ran Brodie Mountain in the Berkshires. His snow cannon has found widespread favor with ski areas. We even use them up here in Alaska to build Ice Roads. They are much simpler to operate and generate about 6 times as much snow as the old 2 hose system.
 

Southtowns27

New member
I can answer any of you snowmaking questions since I happen to be a snowmaking foreman for a ski area...
First, here are some links to snow machine companies:
www.snowmakers.com
www.yorksnow.com
www.ratnik.com
www.snowgun.com
www.lenkosnow.com

Here's the crash course in snowmaking. I've had this saved on my computer for years, it's the best write up on snowmaking I've ever found. This came from SMI's website years ago. They now have an abbreviated version of it on their site but this version gives a much more in depth explanation of snowmaking.
The article describes it as well as I could (and I don't have to type it all out since I can just copy and paste it :) ).

WHAT IS SNOWMAKING?

(Snow - crystallized ice particles having physical integrity and the strength to maintain their shape).
When nature doesn't cooperate by providing natural snow, snowmakers take over. Given water, electric or diesel energy and temperatures below 32 deg;F (0 deg;C) snowmakers can provide snow. Basically snow is small particles of ice. So, the really old way of making snow and the way they still do in the tropics is to grind up blocks of ice. But this is very expensive. So, if possible, machines that convert water into snow directly and on site are used. These snowmaking machines make snow by breaking water into small particles, cooling the water by causing them to move through cold air, nucleating the water particles and distributing the resulting snow on a surface. Why don't people just sprinkle water to make snow? Water is a unique material, it expands when it freezes and it has high heat of fusion, thus your ice cubes float and last a long time. Heat of fusion means that one can cool a pound of water say from 65 deg;F (18.3 deg;C) to 64 deg;F (17.8 deg;C) or 34 deg;F (1.1 deg;C) to 33 deg;F (.6 deg;C) by removing 1 BTU. But to convert one pound of liquid water at 32 deg;F (0 deg;C) from a liquid to one pound of ice at 32 deg;F (0 deg;C) requires the removal of 144 BTUs. Thus, a large amount of heat removal (cooling) is required. Also, water can be cooled well below 32 deg;F (0 deg;C) and still stay a liquid unless it is nucleated. So a snowmaking machine a) breaks the water into small particles, b) cools the water to 32 deg;F (0 deg;C), c) removes the heat of fusion and d) nucleates.
Most requirements for snow require relatively large quantities of water, for example to cover an area of 200 feet (61 meters) by 200 feet (61 meters) with 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow, one would need 20,000 cubic feet (566 cubic meters) of snow or 10,000 cubic feet (283 cubic meters) of water. This is 75,000 gallons (285,000 liters) of water or ten truck tankers full. Thus, an excellent water supply is needed and the water pressure should be at least 100 PSI (pounds per square inch) (7 Bar) or 230 feet TDH (total dynamic head). Many ski areas can convert over 2,000 gallons (7600 liters) per minute of water into snow. This is eight tons per minute or 500 tons per hour. Or stated another way, a truckload every three minutes or less.
Snowmaking, while usually used at ski areas, is also used for frost protection on construction projects, freeze protection of crops, automotive and aircraft testing and sewage disposal. There are over thirty snowmaking companies around the world.

Humidity and Snowmaking
The lower the humidity, the more snow a system can make at a given temperature. Any system! This is because evaporation furnishes a significant part of the cooling in the snowmaking process. So, the lower the humidity, the more evaporation per unit of water, the more snow you can make. Going from 85% humidity to 40% humidity can sometimes double the amount of snow made even at the same temperature. Thus, it is recommended to use Wet Bulb temperature to determine snow production. The Wet Bulb temperature is the lowest temperature a water droplet can reach in the atmosphere and takes into account both temperature and relative humidity.

Marginal Temperature and Snowmaking
Most snowmaking systems can make snow above 25 deg;F
(-4 deg;C) Wet Bulb but above 28 deg;F (-2 deg;C) Wet Bulb they will do little more than dust the area. Compressed air systems have seen conditions where snow was made as high as 40 deg;F (4 deg;C) for up to an hour, but the humidities must be extremely low. But to get "commercial" quantities without excessive energy consumption, temperatures below 28 deg;F (-2 deg;C) Wet Bulb are usually required. If you do have consistent temperatures above 25 deg;F (-4 deg;C), a larger snowmaking system may be necessary. Also, putting the snowmaking in the air will maximize the system's effectiveness (tower or boom mounts). This increases the residence time of the water particles in the cold air and more snow can be made. The best man-made snow is of spherical structure as to give a feeling of skiing on ball bearings, allowing edges to hold and turns to be carved.

Rain and Snowmaking
The distinctive ball bearing characteristic of better man-made snow allows rain to drain through it without destroying the snow structure. Thus, more snow remains with minimum surface ice. Natural snow on the other hand with its fine crystal structure tends to accumulate water from rain at the surface of the snow. Also, the rain tends to cause natural snow crystals to break down and to dissolve with subsequent ice formation.

Snowmaking and Snow Quality
Why Should I Make Snow? To get open, to stay open, to provide a base, to give the best skiing conditions possible, and for cosmetics. In all these cases you are looking for volume, doing the job as quickly as possible, and doing it at a minimum cost. In none of these instances does it make sense (cents) to make dry snow. If a snowmaker can make 2-3 times as much snow using the same amount of time and cost (and this is the case for wet snow compared to dry snow), profitable management requires that wet snow be made. Of course, we are talking about quality snow that meets the test described below.

What Is the Best Quality Snow?
According to most successful ski area operators, the best base snow is large particle wet snow--not so wet as to discolor or bleed, but much wetter than fresh natural snow. The best surface snow may be a dry snow. Why? Natural snow will become more dense with age. So, most experienced snowmakers make snow that is like three-day-old natural snow. It lasts longer, holds up better, resists blowing away, grooms easier, and is the most energy efficient to make. Wetter snow is more efficient because more snow can be made with the same amount of equipment, the same amount of horsepower and the same number of people.

How Do You Determine Snow Quality?
To check snow quality during snowmaking:
1) Squeeze a handful--if a few drops of water come out, it is OK; no drops of water, too dry; substantial water, too wet.
2) Kick the snow with your toe--if it comes out ball bearing size, OK; flies up as dust, too dry; golf ball size or larger, too wet.
3) Let the snow fall on your arm--if it hits and bounces, OK; flutters down as dust, too dry; goes splat, too wet.
These tests show snow wetter than natural snow, but good machine-made snow. Always plan on grooming machine-made snow. It will last longer and ski better. But it is best to let snow piles cure at least 24 hours before touching the pile.

So that's that... If there are any more questions, lemme know! :beer:
 
just saw your note on snow making - your remember brodies snow .. they made green snow on st. paddies day.... green beer as well they just didn't make snow they played with it...... thanks for the info..... p.s. our snow trac runs the hills just 3 miles from brodie... gordon robertson
 
Well for starters, 3 acres of snow, one foot deep = 420,000 gallons of water. If you have that much water and you do not want to deal with an industrial air compressor then here is one option:

http://www.ratnik.com/H2_gun.html

But you will need 25gpm @ 300 psi of water. That is probably the cheapest route and the one I would recommend off-the-cuff.

Otherwise, you are looking at a fan gun which requires 480V AC (3-phase?) but less water (min: 7gpm @ 105psi).

http://www.snowmakers.com/products/kidpolecat.html

Finally you could go with an air/water gun...but that would take a huge amount of compressed air at least from a homeowner's perspective...something like 250 cfm @ 100 psi.

http://www.ratnik.com/bsg_x2_gun.html

Stuff to ponder for next fall....
 

AlexVB22

New member
Hey guys... if you really want to learn how to make snow... a lot of it or a little of it... go to WWW.SNOWGUNS.COM...

It will teach you all about it.... I personally have built a "large" (for the home) Fan gun..

Let me tell you, This is no easy task...

If you want some pics and what not let me know. Its a 62 GPM max gun.

But that site is a forum... Great help there and a ton of info.. by winter next year if you are active in building you own... you'll be hooked and makeing Feet upon feet of snow on you front lawn.. I know I have.

Alex

Ps.- My thread I started that show my constuction of the project from start to finish (30 some pages) its call "help with my snow fun gun" in the "Advanced fan gun snow making" sub-forum.. I know snds corning.. but it has a ton of packed info. to learn about.:thumb:
 

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Southtowns27's discription on SnowMaking is whithout question the most detailed and technically accurate article I have ever seen. I approve! I like 'technically accuracy'. Thanks.>
And yes, Brodie did make GREEN Snow on St. Patrics day. Unfortunately they went out of business. There are a series of web sites dedicated to "LOST SKI AREA's" Vermont had over a hundred. I've been combing thru these sites for pictures of old Snow Cat's with limited results. Seems that most of the areas didn't think pictures of Snow Cat's were very "photogenic". I havn't made it thru all the sites, but have spotted many old and unusual machines. There is even one, poor quality picture that may, and I say MAY, be one of those rare Kristi's like Big Al has, but it's hard to tell.
 

bill w

Member
everytime i want to make it snow...i just take off a track,or work on the tucker some way....it seems to snow every time..lmao...Bill w
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
i aggree break something on my snow trac or have a 3 day weekend with the kids out of school and the mother of all blizzards will blow in. now why do we want to make snow is this because we want to it to snow around Big Als krusty while he is gone.
 
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