With many of the larger jobs associated with our summer snowmaking project already completed, the focus now has primarily turned to completing the construction of our pump house; the heart of our system you could say.
PUMP IN PLACE –
With the ability to pump some 270 gallons per minute (GPM), our snowmaking pump is a true behemoth. Not yet completely tied in, this pump will easily feed 4 – 6 snowmaking machines with the water they will need to make high quality snow. Why 4 – 6 snow machines you might ask? Well our team can control just how much water is fed to each machine by opening and closing banks of nozzles. The lower the temperature and humidity, the more quickly water droplets freeze which means that our team can propel more of them into the air without fear of having them fall to the ground as…well…not snow.
Expansion of our snowmaking system has also been kept in mind. While a second pump has not yet been purchased, there is space within our initial pump house to accommodate a second pump of equal size and power. This will be added sometime into the future, when additional snowmaking water lines & electrical are laid elsewhere on the mountains.
PUMP HOUSE BUILDING PROGRESS –
With our pump house framed up and the pump in place, work continues on closing in this building. Electrical contractors are also on-site this week and next, tying everything together within the building. We’re expecting all of the electrical components to be tied in, within the pump house, by mid-October.
Once this is completed, we’ll have the ability to test our system – yes, that means making snow! Snowmaking is expected to start in a more formal way, sometime in November, when conditions permit.
MOTHER NATURE TO KICK START SNOWMAKING THIS WEEKEND –
Castle Mountain Resort and SW Alberta are in the cross hairs of a major winter storm, expected to land this weekend. Early indications are that we could see anywhere from 20 – 40 cm’s of snow. It remains to be seen how much of it sticks around but it should go without saying that we’re thankful to Mother Nature for kick starting our snowmaking operations for us, so early on in the fall!