Snowmaking
The most dependable snow in New England™. How can we say that?
At Sunday River, snow is what we do best. We have the largest, most technically advanced snowmaking system in the East, plus a veteran team of snowmakers who are passionate about what they do. For you, it means snow conditions you can count on. Top to bottom each run, each time you come, throughout the season.
Snowmaking, in principle, is relatively simple. Water is pulled from a water source, pumped onto the mountain and forced through a nozzle by pressurized air. From there, the water droplets freeze into snow crystals and settle to the ground. So what separates Sunday River from everyone else? We've been able to maximize each step of the process.
Water
It sounds impressive when a ski area can claim to cover 80 percent or more of its terrain with snowmaking. But far more relevant to skiers is the amount of snow a ski area can make at one time; this is the only true measure of how fast an area can open new terrain, or refresh surfaces during the course of the season. Since water is the raw material from which snow is made, water supply is the most critical determinant in how much snow a ski area can make. Most ski areas are located at or near the top of a watershed and must depend on comparatively small water sources. Sunday River, on the other hand, is blessed to be located near the bottom of a very large watershed, nearly 43 square miles of drainage. Many resorts boasting 80+ percent coverage are limited by a rather minimal water supply.
Water capacity by the numbers
Source pumping capacity: 8,200 gallons (how much that can be pumped at the water source)
- Hill pumping capacity: 9,000 gallons
(how much that can be delivered to the trails) - Source restrictions: 9,000 gallons
(water available to take during a normal February) - Permitted capacity 50,000 gallons
(how much the resort would be allowed to pump)
Air
In addition to water, the other factor which determines overall system capacity is air. Air is measured in volume and pressure. Sunday River operates the world's largest high-pressure snowmaking system and can compress about 54,000 cubic feet of air each minute. The high volume and pressurized system allows Sunday River to make more snow than any other resort in New England, as well as allows us to control the process and ensure consistent snow texture from the top to the bottom of each trail.
Air capacity by the numbers
- Compressor capacity: 90,000 cubic feet per minute
(how much air the resort can compress to 110-140 psi) - Production capacity 250 guns
(how many guns the resort can operate at once)
On-Mountain Infrastructure
Obviously, air and water capacity are the two biggest factors in snowmaking. There are two others: the number of guns in the snowmaker's arsenal, and the spacing of the hydrants on the mountain. Some ski areas inventory only enough guns to match their maximum water and air capacity. Upon completing the make on one trail, crews must "strip" the trail and move all of the guns and hoses to the next trail - a rather long process. Sunday River's arsenal includes over 1,900 state-of-the-art guns - enough to leave every trail set up all winter long. These are spread out along 72 miles of snowmaking pipes which cover 92% of our terrain. Hydrant spacing is also a factor. Many resorts space hydrants up to 200 feet apart - meaning that each gun must cover a much larger area of the trail. Sunday River utilizes an average hydrant spacing of 85 feet - and on trails intended for early season skiing, hydrants are placed as little as 30 feet apart. Wide spacing also tends to produce large "whales" of snow that must then be pushed around by groomers. This packs the new snow down and doesn't allow water a chance to seep out - resulting in hard, even icy snow. By spreading snow evenly as it's made, Sunday River can generally avoid grooming new snow for at least 24 hours, allowing the snow to "cure" or dry.
On-mountain system by the numbers
- Snowguns 1,900
- Miles of pipe 72
- Miles of hose 30
- Hydrant stations 2,200
- Avg. hydrant spacing 85 feet
Boyne Low-Energy (Low-E) Fan Guns
Sunday River is fortunate to incorporate into its snowmaking mix the advanced technology of 75 Boyne Low-E Fan Guns developed by the resort's parent company, Boyne. The Boyne Low-E gun is more efficient than ever at converting water into snow crystals – especially at marginal temperatures (above 25 degrees). This greatly improves snow quality and lessens icy build-up while boosting energy and water efficiencies more than any previous technology.
With the Boyne Low-E fan gun, compressed air is injected with a very small amount of water in an inner ring at the center of the gun. This compressed air/water mixture then freezes as it’s propelled by the fan and nucleates with water from the outside nozzles creating crystals. The extended and tapered nose cone adds about 18 inches to the overall length and improves expansion cooling as the air leaves the gun. The greater the expansion cooling, the more water freezes. The unique shape and additional length raises velocity and distributes snow further allowing more hang time for powdery snow. However, the true secret weapon in this snowgun is the exclusive Boyne designed water bath technology that is capable of yielding higher production output while achieving lower energy consumption. The combination of each of these modifications has created a one-of-a-kind fan gun only found at Boyne’s North American resorts.
High Tech: Computers and Snowmaking
Sunday River was the first to utilize computers to actually control snow quality. Some ski areas rely on snowmaking crews to literally hold their coat sleeves in a plume of snow to judge its quality. This is a subjective and rather crude measurement. At Sunday River a snowmaker calls in to the pump house by radio and gives his location. The crew chief then enters this into the computer, which calculates the optimum setting for the guns at that location based on the air and water pressure and weather data relayed by five remove weather stations at different elevation bands on the mountain. On each run, the crews check the settings and move the guns to ensure that coverage and snow quality is consistent.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
