SNOWMAKING

As long as we have temperatures that are cold enough, we can have snow throughout the season,

even if mother nature doesn't make any of her own. However, there is much more to making snow than just having cold temperatures and we invite you to take a small look at what it takes for our team to work their magic each winter.

 

Six things are necessary for us to be able to create that white stuff

 

Cold Temperatures  

While 32 degrees is the freezing temperature needed for water to turn to snowflakes, we ideally need temperatures that are 24 degrees and below for snow making.

 

Low Humidity

We like it when the humidity is LOW. As the temperature and humidity drop, we are able to make more and more snow per hour, which allows you to get on the hill that much faster and enjoy the winter that much longer. Did you know that when it snows, the humidity is too high to make snow?

 

Compressed Air

We need compressed air to mix with water in order to create tiny droplet of water that our forced out of the snowguns which then freezes into snow before reaching the ground.

 

Water

Our new pump house more than doubles our output over previous years.  This season we estimate that we will put 16,000,000 gallons of water on the hill.That is a lot of snow.

 

Snowguns

We use a combination of fan guns and stick guns. We use nineteen fan guns that we can move around to the ski area to make snow where needed. We also have twenty stick guns that are permanently mounted along our race course on Big Blue.

 

Dedicated Staff for Snowmaking and Grooming

The final piece of the puzzle, that Blue Hills couldn't operate without, is our staff. Our snowmakers and groomers work extensive hours throughout the winter, to take advantage of the ideal conditions. It isn't uncommon for them to be here all night in the morning hours, ensuring that when you wake up and head out here for skiing and riding, you have the best conditions we could make.