Snow Trails Snowmaking Plans Explained

We are monitoring the forecast closely, here at Snow Trails, as temperatures begin to dip into the night and early morning hours. We set our snowmaking plan based on forecasted temperatures in the twenties and continue to evaluate how long they will hold there or below each night. This allows our Snow Trails Snowmaking Crew to evaluate if and when to power-on our massive snowmaking system, and how it will affect our stock piles of snow once we begin our snowmaking campaign, heading towards Snow Trails 2012-’13 Winter Season.

It is a science, with multiple factors taken into account, such as ambient temperature and relative humidity and how they will change within a given ten day forecast. We look for a Wet Bulb temperature, calculation of ambient temperature around 29 degrees Fahrenheit or below and relative humidity of 60% or below, to produce the quality snow many have come to expect from Snow Trails.

We have an advantage in Ohio’s frequent marginal temperatures thanks to our newly added Cooling Tower first lowering the temperature of water supplied from our holding pond and water wells by an average of 13 degrees Fahrenheit, before the over four-thousand gallons of water per minute is pumped out to our snow guns. This plays a major role in reducing “cure time” otherwise known as how fast the water molecules can freeze into snowflakes, after being shot into the air from our snow guns. This allows for higher quantity and quality of snow to be made during each snowmaking campaign.

Believe it or not, we are less than two weeks away from our Kick-Off Party with Red Ball Jets, and we hope to have the slopes open for skiing and snowboarding! The annual party will be a go, even if the slopes are not. Keep your fingers crossed and hope for cold temperatures to come and stay! We will keep you posted, so check back for details.