Brain Post: How Snow Guns Work The idea behind snowmaking is simple; you spray water into cold air and it freezes into snow as it falls to the ground. But there’s more to it than that. Engineers have spent nearly 70 years developing snow machines, and as a result, modern snowmaking is really good. Let’s take a look at what goes into it. These five things are […] Brains Tanner Blake | October 12, 2020 3 Comments
Squaw Valley, CA Conditions Report: Ripping Groomers and Good Coverage Squaw Valley 1/14 Conditions I went snowboarding at Squaw Valley this last Monday. While the snow off-piste wasn’t all that great, the groomers were really cruisy and perfect for checking out coverage before the oncoming storm. As I rode around it was cool to see bomb holes from the last pow day. People went huge, and I saw tracks on lines that I’ve […] Conditions Report Tanner Blake | January 18, 2019 2 Comments
Top Ten Snowmaking Ski Resorts in North America Snowmaking has become a key resource for ski resorts around the world. The ability to have skiable snow regardless of weather is incredibly valuable as it benefits skiers with extended seasons, and ski resorts with more days open to make money. OnTheSnow put together a list of the resorts with the most snowmaking acres, let’s check it out. You might also […] Industry News Tanner Blake | December 21, 2018 5 Comments
VIDEO: Check Out This Huge Powder Avalanche in Zermatt, Switzerland This massive avalanche in Zermatt, Switzerland was caught on camera last Tuesday. Avalanche monitoring group Geopraevent recorded it on a few of their webcams: Here’s another view that was posted by Powder-Magazine: The slide was intentionally triggered as a way to reduce the risk of a natural slide occurring when the road is open. Between the size of the avalanche and the […] Avalanche Tanner Blake | December 21, 2018 0 Comments
Ski Area Salting Practices Aren’t Harming the Environment Yet If you’ve ever gone spring or summer skiing you’ve probably skied on salted snow. Ski areas often apply salt to their runs and park features in the late season to firm up slush, making it less sticky and hold its form better. But as thousands of pounds of salt are spread on mountains across the country, environmentalists start to take note, […] Brains Tanner Blake | December 14, 2018 0 Comments
Squaw Valley, CA Conditions Report: Fresh Snow and New Terrain Squaw Valley 11/30 Conditions The skiing at Squaw Valley was really, really good on Friday. The recent storm finally came through and dumped on the mountain, and Squaw was able to open up Red Dog, Squaw Creek, and Shirley Lake chairlifts, along with Mountain Run halfway through the day. I headed straight up the Funitel to Shirley Lake. Despite arriving about 15-30 […] Conditions Report Tanner Blake | December 1, 2018 0 Comments
Revised Dog Policy for Uphill Skiers at Aspen Ski Resorts Aspen Skiing Co. officials have been reviewing their uphill skiing policies recently. Uphill skiers, or uphillers, are skiers that use touring equipment to access ski resort terrain without using chairlifts. While uphilling provides people with a unique experience, the added skier traffic can conflict with ski resort operations. Aspen Skico recently told public that they will continue to allow uphilling […] Industry News Tanner Blake | November 23, 2018 0 Comments
Conditions Report: Opening Weekend at Squaw Valley, CA Squaw Valley opened this last Friday. I went there on Saturday to check it out. Despite the limited terrain, everyone was stoked to be back on the snow. There was only a beginner run open, and you could only go up the First Venture chairlift or the Tucker Carpet, but it was still a good time. After a whole summer away from […] Conditions Report Tanner Blake | November 19, 2018 1 Comment