As summer sets in, so does wildfire season, and preparation is key for ski areas nestled in forested terrain. Now is the ideal time for proactive planning that could protect your people, property, and equipment when it matters most. At CHS Snowmakers, we understand the unique challenges of fire prevention in the ski industry. That’s why we’ve developed a Four-Phase Fire Pre-Plan designed specifically for mountain operations. What Your Team Can Start Now Off-season is the perfect time for fire preparation. Here are a few high-impact steps: Download Phase One – Free We’re offering a free download of Phase One of our Fire Pre-Plan. It’s a hands-on guide created by Jason Sawin that gives you a head start on risk assessment, mapping, and contact readiness. Be Ready for Whatever May Come Preparedness protects people and property. At CHS Snowmakers, we’re committed to helping ski areas navigate challenges with excellence and foresight. Need help planning your next step? We offer wildfire mitigation strategies, on-site evaluations, and practical solutions customized to your operation. Check out CHS Fire Pre-Planning for the Ski Industry to learn more or Email Us!

Wildfire Readiness: Why Now Is the Time to Prepare

Plan Ahead: Order Your Snowmaking Hose Now We’ve proudly partnered with Niedner in Quebec, Canada, for over 20 years to supply top-quality snowmaking hose to ski areas and snowmakers across North America. Right now, there’s a 90-day delay on tariffs between the U.S. and Canada—making this the perfect window to place your order for next winter. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading or adding to your hose inventory, now is the time! We’re happy to provide a quote for brand-new Niedner ALTRA Snowhose—just shoot us an email at CHSsnowmakers@gmail.com. Need hose repairs instead? We do that too. Let us help you get ready for the season ahead.

Niedner Hose and Tariffs

We love to attend the ski industry trade shows, but we can’t attend all of them. This year we plan to attend 6 shows and we hope to catch up to you at one of them. We attended the NSAA Western Trade Show at Palisades Tahoe in January. It was a great time catching up with everyone! CCSAA (Cross Country Ski Areas Association) – March 31 – April 2 at Soldier Hollow in Heber, UT. We haven’t attended the CCSAA show for many years and we decided to change things up and revisit some of our original roots in XC skiing. Our focus will be on the Alpine Hauler, Joka gloves, and our classifieds. Mountain Works – Put on by the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association in Bend, OR, April 22 – 24. This is a great trade show and all of our products will be focused on including the Chairlift Water Tender. RMLA – The Rocky Mountain Lift Association May 5 – 9 in Grand Junction, CO is always extremely well attended. The Chairlift Water Tender will be front and center along with the Alpine Hauler and our classifieds. ISAA – The Intermountain Ski Areas Association annual conference will take […]

CHS Snowmakers 2025 Trade Shows

New Joka Safety Gloves for Winter 25/26 Love the Joka Polar gloves and Therm mittens? We have exciting news for next winter! The Polar and Therm models will feature an extended, adjustable Snow Stop cuff with reflective striping. Staying warm and dry is essential for safety—but so is visibility. The broad white reflective band enhances visibility from a distance, ensuring you can be seen in low-light conditions. Interested in these new safety gloves and mittens? Contact us! We’ll have a limited inventory available in the U.S. this fall, with additional orders placed as needed. In 2024, Joka launched its innovative Carbon Biovyn gloves, marking a major step toward sustainability. Now, all Joka gloves are crafted using low-carbon materials and renewable resources, ensuring top-quality protection with a reduced environmental impact.

New Joka Safety Gloves For Winter 25/26

The March 2025 issue of SAM Magazine highlighted the Chairlift Water Tender as an innovative new product. https://www.saminfo.com/the-magazine/this-issue/new-products-march-2025 Are you considering using the Chairlift Water Tender for your load testing this year? Take our survey, and we’ll provide you with a rental quote tailored to your needs! https://forms.gle/HudvX4USZY5sddj26 We also produced a short video showing how the Chairlift Water Tender works in action. New Products

SAM Magazine Featured The Chairlift Water Tender

In November 2024, Mountain Top at Grand Geneva successfully load-tested their three chairlifts using the Double Chairlift Water Tender—marking the first-ever load test with this innovative system. The Chairlift Water Tender performed flawlessly: ✅ Fast and easy to install ✅ Quickly filled to the proper weight ✅ Effortless water dumping at the top ✅ Compact storage in an IBC tote for transport Once all the load tests were completed, the system was neatly packed back into the IBC tote and shipped back to CHS Snowmakers—proving its efficiency and convenience. 🚡 Do you need to load test your chairlifts this summer? Let us simplify the process! We offer Chairlift Water Tender rentals to make your load testing easier, faster, and more efficient. Visit our website to fill out a quick survey about the lifts you plan to test, and we’ll provide you with a quote: https://www.chssnowmakers.com/chairlift-water-tender The Chairlift Water Tender was designed to turn a chairlift into a water pump, making it a versatile tool beyond load testing. It can also shuttle water to the top of your lifts for fire protection, construction projects, or landscaping needs. Whether you need water at elevation for dust control, concrete mixing, irrigation, or emergency […]

Chairlift Water Tender in Action!

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since we developed the first prototype of the Chairlift Water Tender. Today, November 20, 2024, we successfully load-tested two double chairs at Mountain Top at Grand Geneva in Wisconsin. These shorter lifts were perfect for testing, with up to 17 chairs loaded with CWTs. Over the past few months, we’ve made significant progress leading up to today’s tests. These Chairlift Water Tenders are now incredibly easy to set up, fill, dump, and move to the next lift. A third load test is scheduled in two days, after which everything will be shipped back to CHS in a conveniently packable IBC tote. In the coming weeks, we’ll be putting together a comprehensive video showcasing the entire process, along with more details about how the Chairlift Water Tenders work. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re excited to display them at trade shows and demonstrate them on lifts during these events. Thanks to recent design improvements, we’ve been able to simplify the Chairlift Water Tender final design significantly, reducing production costs along the way. Proudly made in Idaho, we will announce pricing in January 2025. Thank you for your support as we […]

We did a thing today! Our first full load test ...

Why do we like to ski and snowboard on a snow-covered mountain? For me, it is a sense of freedom to glide and let gravity take me, yet I can control nearly everything about it.  Skiing and snowboarding on a mountain is a unique sport. There is a mixture of riders of different ages and abilities on the trails. We all have to share the same space and enjoy the ride. When our son Noah was 3 or 4, I was skiing with him at Keystone on the beginner slope. Another beginner skier, out of control, skied across his little skis, missing him by inches. She outweighed me, and my heart dropped that day. Accidents happen, but most are preventable. In June of 2024, at the ISAA trade show in Red Lodge, MT, I met Chauncy Johnson, and we talked about his foundation, Snow Angel. I knew a little bit about his story, but I wouldn’t want to live his story; it is truly heartbreaking.  I encourage all ski areas and vendors to support Snow Angel so we can educate everyone on the slopes. Every winter season, there are new people on the slopes who have no idea something like […]

She was 5. You were doing 50. – Snow Angel ...