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Great Snow -- Guaranteed |
Contacts:
Jake Duhaime
802.297.4127
Myra Foster
802.297.4137
While many a mountain touts great snow, Stratton guarantees it! Skiers and riders are invited to go out for an hour -- any time, any day -- and if they're not thrilled, they'll get a ticket for another day.
Snowmaking blankets 95 percent of Stratton Mountain's terrain with a system so powerful it can bury three football fields in a foot of snow in just one hour. And thanks to a 150-million gallon water storage pond (plus another 72 million gallons in reserve), Stratton has the raw material to cover every single trail on the mountain with two feet of snow; using HKD tower guns that would take 13.5 days.
Simply put, snowmaking blends compressed air and water. More water means denser snow good for building a base. Less water, fluffier snow. The science of snowmaking also factors in temperature, humidity and wind speed. And then there is the art of snowmaking.
"Cape" Capen and the crew are on duty 24/7, poised to take advantage of every window of opportunity to lay down "snow so smooth you wish they could bottle it."
So Cape. what's your idea of good weather?
18 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 percent humidity, winds at 5-10 mph. You need a little wind to spread out your snow. Depending on the conditions, we're maxing out on either air or water. In marginal temperatures, it's air. In colder weather, we max out the water which is more efficient.
Is machine-made snow real snow?
It's better than real snow. Mother Nature gives you what she has to offer. Here we're in charge of quality, adjusting the mixture to create the snow we want. In the beginning of the season, we want heavier snow (more water) to build that base layer (1-2 feet for a beginner trail, 2-3 feet for intermediate, 3+ feet for expert terrain). We use lighter snow (more air) for a quality surface, and on a bump trail that's about a foot of surface snow. And natural snow doesn't hold up as well.
Snowmaking is so important as skiers and riders have come to expect great conditions day after day, from November through April. With $20 million in upgrades since 1996, how does your system compare?
Stratton's air and water pumping capacity puts our snowmaking system among the top in New England, if not at the top. As far as the guns, we use 405 HKD tower-mounted and another 100 (Royal Knight, Snowstorm …) air/water tower guns, 380 land guns and 14 fan guns. We work hand-in-hand with the groomers to provide the very best possible snow surface.
How do you test the snow?
Let the snow fall on your sleeve, and if it sticks that's good base snow. If it bounces, like good snowball snow, it will hold up to traffic. Powder floats off your sleeve.
What role does experience play in making great snow?
Experience definitely makes a difference. We have our game plan, starting two or three days out then finalized each afternoon at 1:30, but out there on the gun runs, we have to be ready to adapt to changing conditions, whether it's wind speed and direction or rising humidity, falling temperatures. Always adjusting the blend. Water regulates density.
We make snow at every opportunity, making the most of even marginal conditions… And most important: We will not open a trail before it's time!
Gold Medal Grooming
They may be called Snow Farmers, Groomologists, Mountain Men, even Groomsmen, or not, but everyone agrees on this, the corduroy they create is always in style. And with more than a hundred years of collective experience, the Stratton grooming team really knows how to roll out the white carpet.
Trails and Slopes Manager Al Desroches has been at the helm for the last nine years, but has been buffing out the slopes here since 1987 and skiing Stratton Mountain since he was 5. When he is not working crazy hours or home with his family, Al is likely to skiing or riding on his two favorite trails, Spruce and Polar Bear.
How can you tell when a trail is well-groomed?
In a word: smooth. Grooming should be seamless. Each groomed pass overlaps seamlessly, no ridges, no berms. Back-up or turn-around passes never show. And every pass is straight, top to bottom.
How do you maintain consistently great conditions from the early season right through those challenging thaw-freeze cycles we can experience?
We watch the weather patterns closely and act immediately. We know the mountain and where the snow is. Experience plays a big role. Commitment is key, the fleet is out every night. And we employ specific techniques I would rather not divulge.
You know the mountain better than anyone. How do ski (or is it ride) it?
I've been skiing Stratton since 1968. I snowboard too, but I can go anywhere on skis. Even though I'm older now I still get in the bumps. My personal favorites are Spruce and Diamonds in the Rough glade, Freefall when it's half and half (groomed and bumps), Polar Bear, Tamarack, Vertigo - the first glade we cut here at Stratton and I played a role in building it. If I'm riding I go to the Meadows, Drifter, Black Bear, Kidderbrook...
