Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Snowfencing

While not one of the more glamorous aspects of working at A-Basin, snowfencing and snow farming are really critical elements of what we do. Ski Patrollers and a few others very intensively manage our snowfencing program. Fences are deployed in areas that the wind may clear of snow. The fences are placed upwind of these drier spots. The wind carries snow to the fences. The snow blows up and over the fences and is deposited on the downwind side of the fences. Following a storm, you can find large snow drifts beyond the fences. The fence management is done in conjunction with the snowcats and it enables us cover some of those very high, wind prone alpine areas.