SnöFlake snowmaking versus traditional snowmaking reminds me of the children’s story “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Slow and steady wins the race! Check out our YouTube video to see how quickly Scaly Mountain opened. https://youtu.be/gesFWi-Xe8A
On-Site Demonstration
January 26 & 27th, 2020 at the Scaly Mountain Outdoor Center in Scaly Mountain, NC. Please make a reservation.
Earliest Opening Ever
The Scaly Mountain Outdoor Center in North Carolina is in a rainforest climate, just a two hour drive from Atlanta. The weather changes quickly and natural snow and cold temps don’t hang around long. Scaly was a ski area from 1980 to the late 1990’s, and then they decided just to do snow tubing. This has been very successful, for the most part. However, since it is a southern climate, some years have been more challenging than others.
In 2019, Scaly Mountain contracted with CHS Snowmakers for consulting to take them to the next level. By November 2019, Scaly was ready to make snow with more snowguns and the improvements that I suggested.
A cold snap in mid November 2019 for 2 days (one of the earliest ever for Scaly) allowed them to make a lot of snow. They opened the weekend prior to Thanksgiving and they had record crowds for Thanksgiving. In December, snowmaking temps rarely happened and the November snow carried them into Christmas. By the New Year, snow tubing melted away. They got lucky and crossed the finish line when it counted.
Warm Weather Snowmaking
After that close call, Scaly asked me to look into warm weather snowmakers. After extensive research and seeing two of the three manufacturers make snow first hand, at my recommendation Scaly decided on the SnöFlake system, made in Canada.
The second week of November 2020, I delivered the SnöFlake unit on my semi and, within 24 hours, we were making snow. After some fine tuning and one night with 6”+ of warm rain, conditions turned ideal for SnöFlake, under 60 degrees and dry. Scaly Mountain opened for tubing on Saturday November 14, 2020 (earliest opening ever) with one hand-shaped tubing lane.
Record Crowds
By Thanksgiving weekend they had two lanes open and record crowds (much bigger than 2019 crowds). Traditional snowmaking only ran a few hours prior to Thanksgiving, not enough to make a difference.
Scaly had steady crowds throughout December and by Christmas 2020, the numbers exploded. I have seen similar stories across the ski industry this winter, many ski areas opened just in time for Christmas and they had record crowds.
Scaly ordered the SnöFlake unit in April of 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a very big risk as the economy was basically shut down. We felt strongly that people would want to be outside come winter and indoor activities could be very restricted.
Slow and steady wins the race!
SnöFlake is a slow and steady snowmaking (like the tortoise), every bit of it is scheduled and we don’t have to wait around for cold temps. We see the finish line on the calendar and know we can achieve it. Scaly didn’t do away with traditional snowmaking though, we actually doubled the capacity. The new system will be online this winter but the full snowmaking expansion won’t be complete until winter 21/22.
Is SnöFlake Right For You?
- Is your climate too warm for traditional snowmaking most of the time?
- Do you have a large population base that shows up when you have snow?
- Is your traditional snowmaking limited by water supply? (SnöFlake can run from a well).
- Do you have a small, profitable area such as a tubing hill, learn to ski/board, or terrain park that you need to open early and stay open?
- Is the cost of a large snowmaking system (millions of dollars) plus water storage out of your reach?
After you answer these questions, send me an email or give me a call. We can go over your answers and see if SnöFlake is right for you.
Jason Sawin
Owner
CHS Snowmakers
303.818.5923 cell
