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Codger

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If I am skiing on baldy relying on snowmaking (eg no recent snow) would the experience be similar to skiing at a vermont area with snowmaking and no recent snow. Supposedly sun valley has state of the art equipment. Thanks for any useful info.
 

KevinF

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There's all kinds of things that affect the quality of snowgun snow -- humidity in the air, temperature when they're blowing, temperature fluctuations since they turned the guns off, skier traffic, wind, rain (or the hopeful lack thereof), how long they let the whales sit until they're groomed out...

About the only valid generalization is that snow gun snow isn't as good as the real stuff.
 

Bill Miles

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I can't compare to Vermont, but the man-made snow at Sun Valley is sure better than nothing. They do a good job of grooming but it still gets a little firm at times. It is not the quality of natural snow, but Sun Valley's natural snow is not as good as some other Rocky Mountain areas.
 

Josh Matta

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in an average year sun valley 130 inches.....Stowe 330 inches..

Stowe is using snowmaking less though........
 

Dave Petersen

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One would think the lower humidity in Idaho would favor Sun Valley snowmaking.
 

LiquidFeet

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Sun Valley has what it claims is the best snowmaking apparatus in the world. You can take a tour of their machinery. They're very proud of it. The location of the mountain doesn't get as much natural snow as one might think, so their snow-making system is necessary. There's a reason they call it Sun Valley.
 

Slide of Hans

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in an average year sun valley 130 inches.....Stowe 330 inches..
..[/QUOT

Stowe averages about 200 / year. Maybe 230. -250 in A good year. On par with sun. valley. Of course there are outliers.

Does sun valley get the rain Vermont gets? I'm hoping to get out there this year or next.
 

mdf

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There's all kinds of things that affect the quality of snowgun snow
You left out the biggest one -- intent. There is a lot of adjustment available. Are they trying to make thick, durable rock covering snow, or snow to freshen the surface?

I have skied snow gun powder, but then they came back and readjusted for mashed potatoes.
 

surfsnowgirl

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I've a friend that just relocated to Idaho. He's about 2 hours away from Sun Valley. I told him we will be visiting at some point. Planning on bringing groomer skis since I consider Sun Valley similar to Lake Louise, steeps without a lot of natural snow.
 

Jully

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Not familiar with Sun Valley's system specifics, but generally, like others have said, snow made out west in lower humidity will be nicer than the snow made back east. Additionally, snow back east endures so many freeze/thaw cycles that Sun Valley gets way less of.

It'll be manmade, but a higher quality than most manmade back east, especially after the recent weather we've endured.
 

LKLA

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in an average year sun valley 130 inches.....Stowe 330 inches..

Stowe is using snowmaking less though........


That has been my feeling this season - that they are making markedly less snow.
 
Last edited:

PinnacleJim

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You left out the biggest one -- intent. There is a lot of adjustment available. Are they trying to make thick, durable rock covering snow, or snow to freshen the surface?

I have skied snow gun powder, but then they came back and readjusted for mashed potatoes.

This. In most cases, the snowmakers are trying to build base or resurface after a warmup followed by a freeze. That requires wetter heavier snow, not dry powder. It's possible to make light dry powder if the weather conditions are right (cold and low humidity), but that's normally not what's being looked for.

In my experience, the snowmakers and groomers in the east are better than the ones in the Rockies. Mainly because they have to deal with much tougher weather conditions and have learned how to deal with them. It amazes me how the major Vermont resorts can recover from a rain/freeze cycle and deliver decent skiable surfaces in a day or two, while in the Rockies, the groomers can turn fresh powder into hardpack in a couple of days.
 

Christy

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The local paper has an article on their snowmaking system this week:
http://www.mtexpress.com/news/recre...cle_624592d4-022d-11e8-8743-a7d710337dcb.html

I've never skied the East Coast but I have a feeling if you are used to Eastern hardpack/conditions, you'll be somewhere between just fine and elated in SV even if there isn't much new natural snow. We've been going there regularly for about 8 years; I'm a pretty average skier and I'm used to the soft snow and snow amounts of the Cascades and I generally dislike hardpack, but I do fine in SV when it hasn't snowed. (I bought slightly narrower/groomer skis just for SV and so I use those). We went a few weeks ago and as you know it's been lean but there was a new inch or two and boy did it feel nice out there just with that little bit groomed in. I was hugely impressed with the snowmaking and grooming on this last trip. Really, it seems to me one of the safest bets in the very unpredictable game of chance that is a ski vacation planned in advance. I guess there is a difference in snow crystal size with their modern equipment that is nicer to ski on? On really firm days there are runs I avoid but there is usually something that skiing well.

Does sun valley get the rain Vermont gets?

I'm not sure how much rain Vermont gets, but it is possible to get rain in SV. I've been there I think 3 times when it has rained. Once was a true downpour (on the lower half of the mountain). I've also been rained on in Steamboat and Schweitzer. Despite what the brochures say, a lot of places do get rain sometimes.

You should definitely go.
 

Tom K.

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in an average year sun valley 130 inches.....Stowe 330 inches..

SV average annual snowfall is 220 inches -- not sure where you got 130.

I ski there a lot, for somebody that lives 500 miles away, averaging around 12-15 days per year for the past decade.

Their snowmaking is amazing. More amazing is how they groom it. If it hasn't snowed in awhile, the groomers are great until noon or 1, then develop a bit of "catch and release" pile up character.
 

PhillyGuy

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I was at sun valley last weekend. They got the worst snow fall in decades but the groomed runs were just incredible. It was def icy in the afternoon on Presidents’ Day weekend. But the next few days, the corduroy lasted until noon on the warm springs side. There’s really no rocks or tree branches on any open runs. That’s just not true anywhere else.
 

crgildart

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Places here can go from 0 to 100% open with 30 inch plus base in less than 10 days of solid snowmaking temps. But when all you're covering is 150 acres of skiable terrain that's not as difficult as covering five times that amount of terrain just to get a couple of top to bottom runs at a 3K vert place.
 

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