Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Snow Farming In Zuma


The crew had another big night and day back in Montezuma Bowl. There is plenty of snow back there to get open. We just have to keep working it.  The upper portion was winched last night and is ready to go. There is a zone about halfway down that tends to get beat up a bit by the wind. A lot of our snow farming energy goes into capturing snow in those zones. We have numerous snow fences there and caught a lot of snow in each of the big storms. Once we catch the snow, we move the fences and the snowcats pack the snow and move it where we need it. The lower portion going into the lift looks incredible. The snowcat operators need to be extremely careful moving around back there. We often use the winch cat to move down each steeper slope to pack the snow and firm it up. If we don't do that, the snowcat might get stuck in the loose unconsolidated snow. Using the winch cat, we know we can get the operator and the machine back up the hill. A stuck snowcat is no fun. This is a very effective, but time consuming process. Continue to stay tuned.





......And just as a reminder, the skiing and riding on the Front Side is absolutely top notch.