Big Snow For Dummies

[Stormchaser]

I just had older "general" wax on when I went. I attributed the lack of speed to the lack of pitch.

The snow is weird, and I think you nailed it. Old, dry, man made snow.

'Hawk Tuah', you gotta spit on that thang!

[jimmywilson69]

classic!

[Southside_Bobby]

I just had older "general" wax on when I went. I attributed the lack of speed to the lack of pitch.

The snow is weird, and I think you nailed it. Old, dry, man made snow.

The snow there varies, just like outside.

They make snow every three days, and the temperature inside is a constant 28 degrees. But the character of the snow varies quite a bit depending on the time of day (It gets noticably chopped up after a couple of hours), as well as weather factors outside.

I was there two weeks ago, for two days in a row. Both days I skied opening bell, and the first day I skied again with friends from 5 till 7. The snow was MUCH different at 1 PM than it was at 6 PM.

The first day was very humid outside, and the snow seemed clumpier inside from the get-go. The second day they had made snow overnight, with a dusting still on some of the chairs at opening bell. It wasn't as humid out as the day before, and the snow was like crisp, midwinter packed powder at the bell. I still had fun in the late day session, but just like on any mountain, the early bird gets the worm at Big Snow. Especially after they make snow the night before.

Lack of pitch to get momentum on the slope slide isn't usually an issue, and my skis currently have zero wax left after the spring on Supe. I don't usually hit the features on the park side, but lack of momentum is not something I have often observed, or a complaint I hear when chatting with people.

[buckethead]

very cool bobby. if it was closer...

fwiw we're only about 120days out til *real* manmade snow *out* doors ;0]

[jimmywilson69]

anyone ever see them make snow there? I was wondering if they roll out fan guns or if they have some air/water system? I didn't see any snowmaking equipment.

[Southside_Bobby]

anyone ever see them make snow there? I was wondering if they roll out fan guns or if they have some air/water system? I didn't see any snowmaking equipment.

The snowmaking units are very small, and are up on some of the same platforms that the banks of air conditioners are attached to. You can see small, fairly short hoses going to the nozzles.

As for the air conditioners, there are a bunch of sets of them, with big fans on them. At least one is always running, but I have never seen more than two of them running at the same time, even in the heat of the summer. Perhaps they need to run them all to chill it down from ambient temps (which can't be very often, since the place is open pretty much 365 days a year), or there is a lot of redundancy.

[Grmmtnhkr34]

Good info from all. I'm taking a trip there later this month. We are starting at 3:45 on a Monday. Hopefully it won't be too chopped up then!

[asher2789]

I just had older "general" wax on when I went. I attributed the lack of speed to the lack of pitch.

The snow is weird, and I think you nailed it. Old, dry, man made snow.

The snow there varies, just like outside.

They make snow every three days, and the temperature inside is a constant 28 degrees. But the character of the snow varies quite a bit depending on the time of day (It gets noticably chopped up after a couple of hours), as well as weather factors outside.

I was there two weeks ago, for two days in a row. Both days I skied opening bell, and the first day I skied again with friends from 5 till 7. The snow was MUCH different at 1 PM than it was at 6 PM.

The first day was very humid outside, and the snow seemed clumpier inside from the get-go. The second day they had made snow overnight, with a dusting still on some of the chairs at opening bell. It wasn't as humid out as the day before, and the snow was like crisp, midwinter packed powder at the bell. I still had fun in the late day session, but just like on any mountain, the early bird gets the worm at Big Snow. Especially after they make snow the night before.

Lack of pitch to get momentum on the slope slide isn't usually an issue, and my skis currently have zero wax left after the spring on Supe. I don't usually hit the features on the park side, but lack of momentum is not something I have often observed, or a complaint I hear when chatting with people.

thats why you dont hear any complaints, because you dont ski/ride park. but even on the groomer side, if i lose speed working on drills on the higher part by the lower part where the carpet dumps out i have to scooch a bit to regain speed and then barely make it pass the gates to get to the lift.

on the park side, even when i was hitting the long flat box (which is faster than the snow) i couldnt maintain speed even straight lining to the jump and would case it. the features where the slope mellows towards the bottom are completely unrideable due to lack of speed.

ive been at opening and at closing, and while the landings are trash by closing the time the speed of the snow wasnt noticeably that different. maybe slightly faster? i remember one time in the handful ive been there where speed was less of a problem.