If you’ve looked up the hill lately and noticed the steady hum of activity—yep, you’re seeing it right. We’re making a lot of snow, and the Operations team is in full-on winter mode as conditions line up in our favour.
With temperatures sitting around -7°C and colder, we’re able to push production hard, maxing out at roughly 300 snow guns when wet bulb temperature cooperate. We’ve also started running snow guns on the north side of Calamity for the first time with the new flood line! We’re still working to cover up the putting course at the base of Smart Alec to load it up with snow, building the base we need to keep things moving toward opening.
What’s helping right now:
- Consistently low temperatures and a bit of natural snowfall
- A weekend wind shift from northwest to southwest, giving us the ability to make snow on both sides of the hill
Snowmaking is only half the story; once we’ve made it, we need to move it, shape it, and pack it. We currently have a groomer on the hill and we’ll be adding more in the coming days to keep pace with production. We also had our newest snow cat delivered this week, which is being prepped in the shop by our team.
On the grooming side, we’re focused on:
- Getting GPS units in the groomers out on hill, so we can see where the snow is flattening out and where we need more coverage
- Increasing grooming support as colder temps let us make snow faster, meaning we’ll need more machines to push it out efficiently
We’ve also had some welcome help from Mother Nature. The ground has been frozen better this year, and our water temps have been in a great range for snowmaking—just over 4°C from Georgian Bay, with our holding ponds around 3°C, which supports efficiency when we’re running at high output.
Of course, operating at peak capacity brings daily challenges. With compressors, guns, pipes, and the rest of the system running hard, maintenance is constant and things leaks can pop up anytime when you’re pushing this much air and water through the system. Safety remains a top priority as well, especially for our overnight snowmakers when conditions can be slippery, windy, and low visibility on tough-to-navigate ungroomed terrain.
Elsewhere around the resort:
- We’re starting to flood the skating rink
- We’re working on snow tubing coverage with the new redesign this year
- Lights are being installed at tubing, though it won’t open until closer to Christmas
- Teams across Rentals, Guest Services, and more have been doing process and staff testing to get ready to welcome you back
It’s a busy (and exciting) stretch at Blue right now! Stay tuned for more updates as we continue making progress towards Opening Day.
