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Why Are We Still Are Making Snow This Season?
Andy Beck • December 29, 2022
Why are we still making snow?
One of the biggest questions we have been asked this season is "So, you guys probably didn't have to make snow right?"
It's funny, because the reality is, our snowmaking crews have to make snow every season regardless of natural snow. We just passed 1,200,000 gallons of water on the hill so far, and are hoping to wrap up snowmaking in the next couple weeks.
So, why do we still need to make snow in a season of record snowfalls like this? It comes down to groom-ability, and the ability to stay open in the spring.
When you ski or snowboard at Huff Hills, you are riding on more snow than you realize. The area between the Blue Lift and Green Lift loading corrals , for example, is over 4' deep at its minimum. Right now you might have noticed a slight uphill to get to the loading maze on the Blue chair. We still need about 2' of snow in that area to make it easy to move to the lift. This means the total depth there will be over 5'. This much snow is more than we could hope to get naturally.
Natural snow also packs down significantly once we groom it. This means a 12" snowfall won't turn into 12" of packed base on a run. Manmade snow has a higher density, meaning it packs less, and allows us to build a base quicker, and it changes less over time. Because natural snow has so much air in it, it will change as we groom it over several days.
Our expanded beginner area also needs specific snow amounts to allow us to shape that area correctly. The learning area ideally will have the sides of the run slightly higher than the center, and will tilt away from the handle tow. This keeps people flowing away from the lift, and won't let kids get pulled to the edge of the trail as easily. Our groomers need the material to work with create this shape, and manmade snow makes that happen.
Terrain park features are also only possible with manmade snow. A jump that is one groomer pass wide, will be somewhere in the range of 18'-20' wide, close to 30' long and up to 6' high. That takes a large amount of snow that will groom consistently, and will pack evenly.
Manmade snow also allows us to withstand warmer temps in the spring, and hang on longer for more spring skiing and riding. Skiers and riders move lots of snow, and we need to be able to have a consistent amount of snow to move back uphill and to the center of our steep runs to make them flat and ready to ride again. Here again, the manmade snow will make sure we have enough snow, and the right kind of snow to make this possible. We do these slope repairs sometimes nightly. Without enough snow, the runs would be closed one skier traffic pushed all the snow away from the center of the run. You can sometimes see this process happening on Lift Line at the end of a warm, super busy day.
We have added a new main snowmaking pump system, and two new fan gun snowmaking machines over the past two seasons. What really makes it work though, are the folks that work as snowmakers and groomers. If you see one of them on the hill, toss them a high five. We are focused on always being able to provide a great surface to play on, regardless of how much snow we get from the sky.
The natural snow does make one big difference. This season, from our earliest opening day ever until now, Huff has been over 90% open nearly every day, and that wouldn't be possible without help from Mother Nature. Take advantage of the opportunity to explore some new terrain, like the Cougar and Badger areas, or the trees off of Rattlesnake. These areas need natural snow to be open, and this year we got the goods!
See you on the hill,
Andy
Crusty Locals Episode 3 - Rob Savageau Rob Savageau would tell you he's just a skateboarder, or he mows lawns for a living. These are both true, but those simple descriptions belie the story of someone who had a hand in creating a skateboard and snowboard community. He helped create the community, in a place far from the California coast or the mountain west, the normal locations for those activities. Rob's influence changed the trajectory of a number of kids growing up and had an outsized impact on Huff Hills too. Born and raised in Bismarck, ND, Rob first got on a skateboard in the '80s. "it was probably around '86. Back To The Future inspired me! Seeing Michael J Fox getting pulled by a car, I was hooked," said Rob. Rob's love for the sport only grew, and it was a natural progression to make the switch to snowboarding in the mid 80's and early 90's. "My buddy Bruner and I screwed boots to a Chris Miller Schmitt Stix skate deck, and hit the dike by Tatley, probably in like '88." Rob explained. This time happened to coincide with the explosion of the sport of snowboarding and was also when Huff Hills Ski Area opened its doors, in 1993. Rob Savageau, aka, Savvy, became a mainstay in the local scene at Huff Hills, pushing the envelope and building features all over the mountain. Rob turned his love for the snowboarding and skateboarding scene into a job. Working as the manager at Discontent on Main St in Bismarck, and eventually going out on his own. Savvy opened Savvy Sk8 and Snow just before Easter 2005. These shops were some of a group of the first core skate shops in Bismarck/Mandan. Crucially, Rob maintained an indoor skate park in both shops, providing a safe place for local kids to try out skating and improve their skills. This was a game changer in a part of the country where the climate makes skating outside impossible for a number of months each year. Kids could show up, watch some local rippers, get inspired, and continue to practice all winter long. The ND winters and the opening of Huff Hills also provided a perfect climate for the shops to transition to snowboard gear. This availability of not only equipment, but also knowledge and advice on what to buy and where to ride is what makes a local shop valuable, and Savvy's shops provided that. The support that local shops provided made it possible for Huff Hills to have a steady stream of new riders showing up week after week. After closing his shop in 2015, Rob opened a commercial mowing and snow removal business and started working seasonally at Huff Hills. Rob is still the biggest cheerleader for kids on the hill and is a fixture at Huff Hills. We were lucky enough to get him on film for the 30th-anniversary project, and we wanted to get more of his story out. Check out the video, and look for Rob on the hill this winter!
Huff Hills has been around for 28 years, which is pretty crazy when you think about it. Lots of people impact a ski area over that many years, and a few make a bigger impression than others. We have watched riders grow up here, and then leave and work at other ski area across the globe. Others rode here for years, and now are bringing their kids out to learn to love skiing and riding, and watching this 2nd generation of rippers is one of our favorite things to do. We wanted to take a minute as we get closer to 30 years of operation to look back at some of these people and the marks they have left on Huff Hills. Sometimes, once someone rides for years at an area, they can get a little legendary, and the gear can get a little dirty, so we call this series Crusty Locals. Enjoy. Crusty Locals Episode 2 The ski industry is a pretty tight industry. Working at a ski area, you can develop connections to others in the industry pretty quickly. It's a small fraternity of people that choose this lifestyle, and decide to make a career out of it. There have been a ton of people that impacted Huff and we will profile a few that made a career out of the ski industry, even if only temporarily. Sometime, people that get a taste of the ski industry life at a place like Huff Hills then move on to chase that life at a larger area. Sometimes, they even go and grab a college degree in ski area management. Yeah, that's actually something you can go to college for, at a number of different colleges (most of which have ski areas either on campus, or adjacent to campus). While you get over the fact that you didn't see that option when you were deciding what you wanted to be when you grew up, we will profile a couple people that started at Huff, and followed that exact path. Chris Becker Chris came to Huff Hills as a kid that rode in the park constantly, and started to get to know the lift operators on the Green Lift. He then took a job as a lift operator, and through a combination of on-the-job training and good natured ribbing became a solid part of the Green Lift and terrain park team. Chris spent a few seasons trying to determine what it was in the ski industry that he wanted to pursue, and eventually attended Gogebic Community College for ski area operations. Chris headed to Yellowstone Club, MT for an internship and has been a snowmaker and driving cat in the grooming department there ever since. While grooming in the Big Sky area all winter, Chris also has spent summers installing gondolas and chairlifts, and working as a lift maintenance tech at Big Sky Mountain Resort. Chris also punched his endless winter card, grooming at Ski Rainbow in New Zealand. Chris continues to enjoy the Big Sky life, and credits his time at Huff for setting his compass for a trip into the ski industry.
Huff Hills has been around for 28 years, which is pretty crazy when you think about it. Lots of people impact a ski area over that many years, and a few make a bigger impression than others. We have watched riders grow up here, and then leave and work at other ski area across the globe. Others rode here for years, and now are bringing their kids out to learn to love skiing and riding, and watching this 2nd generation of rippers is one of our favorite things to do. We wanted to take a minute as we get closer to 30 years of operation to look back at some of these people and the marks they have left on Huff Hills. Sometimes, once someone rides for years at an area, they can get a little legendary, and the gear can get a little dirty, so we call this series Crusty Locals. Enjoy. Crusty Locals Episode 1 The ski industry is a pretty tight industry. Working at a ski area, you can develop connections to others in the industry pretty quickly. It's a small fraternity of people that choose this lifestyle, and decide to make a career out of it. There have been a ton of people that impacted Huff and we will profile a few that made a career out of the ski industry, even if only temporarily. Sometime, people that get a taste of the ski industry life at a place like Huff Hills then move on to chase that life at a larger area. Sometimes, they even go and grab a college degree in ski area management. Yeah, that's actually something you can go to college for, at a number of different colleges (most of which have ski areas either on campus, or adjacent to campus). While you get over the fact that you didn't see that option when you were deciding what you wanted to be when you grew up, we will profile a couple people that started at Huff, and followed that exact path. Jason "Goose" Gusaas When Huff Hills opened in January of 1993, it was the culmination of a herculean effort to over come weather and construction delays. The previous 18 months involved some pretty awesome people, and one of them caught the ski industry bug, and had no intention of being cured. Jason Gusaas was a hockey player and snowboarder that found a job helping pour concrete, pound nails, and building lifts as Huff Hills became a reality. "I was Huff Hills' first employee ever, and I'm pretty proud of that." Said Jason. Building a ski area is an experience that not too many people have the opportunity to do. This effort also included a one month road trip to Brian Head, UT to take down and haul back the Green Lift. Turns out, tearing a chairlift down and hauling it to ND, and reassembling it is a great way to learn about lifts. Jason's early experience ended up being a pre-college prep school of sorts prior to traveling to Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, MI. Jason learned the nuances of ski area operations, and took an internship with Copper Mountain, Colorado in the grooming department. Jason spent 10 years line grooming, and it turns out that grooming questionable snow conditions in the Midwest makes you a really good cat operator. Jason continued to create awesome snow conditions all winter at night, while doing construction in the summer, and was eventually was promoted to Terrain Parks and Half Pipes Foreman. Goose built parks for 11 years at Copper and was Colorado Ski Country USA's first Terrain Master of the Year in 2002. Jason then left CO to work with with Planet Snow Design building terrain parks and race courses at ski areas across the US, including the Vail Honda Sessions and the Swatch Boarder Cross World Tour. The student then became the instructor when, in 2009, Jason joined the faculty in Colorado Mountain College in Leadville as an Assistant Professor of Ski Area Operations. Jason now spends his days teaching the next generation of people entering the ski industry, completing the circle and making even more connections in this tiny snow globe we all work in.
Huff Hills was already closed for the season when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the ski industry hard last spring. Across the world, ski areas began to close suddenly, sometimes with just a few days' notice. Springtime is generally the fun time of the season. The sun comes out, and snowmaking and other early-season work are long completed. Everyone can sense that the season is drawing to a close, and we are almost "done" for another year. The snow is fun, the temps are warm, and the longer days invite a desire to relax and have fun! Instead of sunshine and PBR fueled shenanigans last spring, the white carpet was pulled out from under all of our feet. No spring trips west, no backcountry tours, it all just stopped. We all missed the feeling of skiing and riding. Fast forward to now, and we have watched the colors of the leaves change and start to fall. The mornings are crisper, and we have scraped frost off of windshields in the dark before driving to work or school at sunrise. We have shoveled the first few flakes of snow and dug out mittens and beanies in anticipation of more to come. We have watched ski and snowboard movies and tuned up our equipment as we watch the first few ski areas in North America open for the 2020-2021 season. These things are all constants and mark a changing of the season for us. One other constant is that Huff Hills Ski Area will be back for the 2020-21 season. A few things will be different, but most things will remain the same. The feeling of a cold lift chair as we watch each other ski and ride, the feeling of snow on the first run of the morning, or the excitement of riding on a snowy day are things that aren't going to change. Huff Hills Ski Area has made some changes to increase the safety margin for guests and employees and ensure we can operate uninterrupted for the winter season. We wanted to take a minute to update everyone on these changes as we get closer to the start of our skiing and riding season. Another great resource we have used to prepare for this winter is the National Ski Area's Association's Ski Well Be Well site. Check it out at https://nsaa.org/skiwellbewell for the latest info. Face Coverings Huff Hills will require face coverings inside our building and areas where social distancing cannot be maintained. This means when you are purchasing tickets, using the restroom, grabbing something to eat or snagging a beer, or getting set up in our rental shop, we ask that you use a face covering of some kind. Food Service The food service area will feature more grab and go, or ready to eat items this winter. Also, condiments and utensils will be prepackaged to try to eliminate touchpoints. We have installed shields at the cash register, along with a new point of sale system featuring touchless payment options such as Apple and Google Pay. The same Huff burgers will still be available; however, not to worry. Ticket Counter Our ticket sale area will also feature some new shielding and the benefits of the touchless payment system. Also, you will be able to purchase tickets online, speeding up the process of purchasing your tickets. Just buy your tickets online, and present a copy of the email on your device and you can grab your lift pass and go. Rental The rental shop will feature some shielding to keep both guests and rental techs safe. We will also be upping our sanitizing game for the rental equipment to ensure that it's clean and ready for you when you come in. We will be monitoring the rental area, and if we need to, we will implement a reservation system similar to tee times to space customers out and eliminate long lines. Chalet Area Area-wide will be cleaning and sanitizing more frequently to help ensure a cleaner environment. Along with this effort, we ask that guests try to limit how much gear they bring into our main building. Leaving ski and boot bags, etc., in the car as much as possible will help everyone have more space. In addition, we will not be allowing you to leave equipment on a table for the day and will instead have you utilize a locker or cubby space to let us have easier access to clean tables during the day. Huff Hills will also sanitize storage areas throughout the week to make sure they are clean and ready. Hand sanitizer stations will be near each exit and at the entry to foodservice. We ask people to take advantage of these to help keep us clean. Lift Operations We will be providing a little more space between lift lanes as you wait for the next chair and will not be pairing up singles to ride with folks they didn't come with. We ask that you ride with who you came with, and stay together in a group. Lift operators may not be as close to you while you board, but rest assured they will be ready to help when necessary and swoop in to help any little skiers and riders that might need an extra hand. Feel free to ask for assistance anytime you don't feel comfortable, just like before. Lessons/Race Program Instructors and coaches will use face coverings anytime they are close to a student to keep everyone safer. We will also try to schedule group lessons to keep groups together that came together. These changes will seem like second nature pretty quickly, but we ask everyone for some grace and understanding as we move through the beginning of this winter season. Let's all remember why we are out at Huff Hills - to enjoy what isn't different, and enjoy our shared love of riding on snow. See you on the hill, and let's take a run together.... Thanks, Andrew Beck Mountain Operations Manager and all the staff at Huff Hills Ski Area