We’ve officially entered our first snowmaking window of the season, which began overnight on Thursday, November 27!
Our early focus is on creating enough coverage to support learning terrain and lift operations:
- At Cascade Putting, we need to cover 15-20 ft of features like waterfalls and rocks with snow, and provide a 3 ft base on top.
- Across early-season terrain, we’re aiming for a 20–30 cm base, with special attention at lift load and unload zones.
- We’re bolstering existing equipment with sled guns using R5 high-temperature heads, which can run in marginal conditions as warm as –2.5°C wet bulb.
Once we get a few solid days of snowmaking, we’ll need a couple days to push out snow piles, followed by a couple days of grooming, before we can open with a good quality ski product.
Luckily, cold northwesterly winds are forecasted to push in Arctic air and may bring some help from lake-effect snow. Temperature, humidity, and wind will determine how much ground we can cover over the next few days. Teams are setting up sled guns, flushing new flood lines, and chasing down final leaks as needed. As of tonight, the Slope Team is staffed 24/7 and ready to take advantage of every snowmaking window.
We’re still targeting a December 11 opening, but we are always ready to adapt if conditions change. We’ll be ready — now we just need the cold to stick around!
