Snomaking Facts
| | Sunburst makes white snow by going green |
The snowmaking crew will have the latest technology in snowmaking using the new dual 300 horsepower water pumps recently installed at Sunburst. The "Variable Frequency Drives" in the system power the energy efficient pumps and can pump up to 3000 gallons per minute for the crew to convert to snow using over 50 energy efficient snowguns.
"These new pumps will enable us to make a lot of snow quickly," said Jim Engel, owner of Sunburst. "We have always been energy conscious at Sunburst. This investment in high efficient snowmaking pumps helps ensure that our kids will have cool winters into the next generations."
Sunburst has been a leader with its state of the art snowmaking system for many years and has been the first area in Wisconsin to open for the last fifteen years. The earliest opening was November 3, 2006. The snowmaking crew is at the heart of the process and Sunburst has the best. they love to make snow and lots of it.
Only water makes snow, whether it comes from Mother Nature, dropping from clouds or from the nozzle end of one of the snowguns, water droplets freeze, form a snow flake and float to the surface.
Sunburst converts over 50 million gallons of water to snow every season. This is enough snow to fill Lambeau Field like a snow cone, over the top.
Sunburst has studied the science of snowmaking in every detail. They know the freezing temperature of each droplet and have learned to produce the largest droplet size possible and still have enough "hang time" for the droplet to freeze into a large snowflake. The crew "tweeks" each of the snowgun types during temperature changes to maximize the production.
The goal is to produce the most snow, of the best quality in the shortest amount of time. This enables Sunburst to open more runs faster and recover from the typical "January Thaw" quickly. Naturally, this means better skiing and riding for skiers, snowboarders and snowtubers all season long.
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