CHS Snowmakers
About Us
The History of CHS Snowmakers:
In December 1989, I decided to make snow and had been a skier since 1975 and loved the snow. A friend of mine worked
at a plumbing store and we got a few parts together and made a small
snowmaker. This was in Southern California and it only got cold enough a
few times a winter. One morning it was 18° and I started it up and made a
1/4" of snow on a 10' by 10' area. That was the first and last time I made snow
in California.
A year later I moved to Steamboat Springs, CO and in
November 1993 I got a job as a snowmaker at Howelsen Hill Ski Area until March
of 2000. March of 2001 my wife (Kelly) and I moved to Littleton, CO (it doesn't snow very much
here) and she asked me to make snow the following
November so I got out the snowmaker from California, made some changes and
started making snow. Then I realized there was a market for this and spent all winter testing the prototypes. I had great results so I
searched for a machine shop to build parts and found Peak Machining in
Littleton, CO.
A short time later I built the Cornice II Snowmaker and
needed snowmaking hose for the portable system. That lead to CHS
Snowmakers beginning to represent Niedner Snowhose, Turbocristal, HTM Group
products and Drift. Now we have our own line of products including
Quicksnow, the Cornice III and our custom multi-purpose wheeled
carriages. We are proud of all the products we
represent and believe in them 100%.
Jason Sawin
Jason
Sawin 
I graduated high school in 1991 from Steamboat Springs
High School. November 1991 until April 1992 I worked for Steamboat Ski and
Resort for one season in Base Area Services. April 1992 till March 1993 I built
solid oak furniture, March 1993 till November 1993 I worked for a landscaping
company. Also during this time I was taking classes at Colorado Mountain
College in Steamboat and later received my Associates Degree.
In November 1993, I started working for the City of Steamboat
Springs at Howelsen Hill and started as a snowmaker and a lift operator. That spring I continued working at Howelsen Hill doing summer ski area
maintenance and rodeo grounds maintenance. After two years as a part-time
employee I became a full-time crew leader. My responsibilities included
snowmaking, lift operations, grooming, and summer maintenance of both the ski
area and the rodeo grounds. I helped to design and install snowmaking pipe
for air and water, electric lines, and snowmaking pumps. Howelsen Hill
hosted large events in the winter including the Nordic Combined World Cup (ski
jumping and cross country skiing), Junior Olympics for alpine ski racing and
numerous other winter events.
In April 1994, I became a volunteer
firefighter for Steamboat Springs Fire Department. In March 2000 I left
Howelsen Hill for a full time position as a firefighter with the Avon Fire
Department (near Beaver Creek, CO). I worked there and still volunteered
in Steamboat until I left Avon Fire and Steamboat in March of 2001 to take
a job with West Metro Fire Rescue in Lakewood, CO. I recently completed my
paramedic certification and I am now a Firefighter Paramedic. I work five
48 hour shifts a month and I'm off the other days. On my days off I love to
make snow. My snowmaking experience is more than 14 years now.
jsawin@CHSsnowmakers.com
(303) 818-5923
Kelly
& Noah Sawin
Let me first start by saying Kelly is the best wife
anyone could have. Without her, there would not be CHS Snowmakers. She gave me the idea to make snow here in Littleton
and she does the books for CHS.
In 1999 Kelly became a 911
dispatcher for Routt County. She dispatched the Steamboat Springs Fire
Department to calls while I was volunteering there, but that is not where we
met. We met at church one spring night in April of 2000.
On November 5, 2000 we were married in front of the fireplace during a snow storm at Howelsen Hill
Lodge in Steamboat. Kelly was a dispatcher until we moved to Littleton and now she
really enjoys her jobs at home; working for CHS and raising our son Noah.
Sawin Creations L.L.C. is doing business as CHS Snowmakers.
Jason
L. Sawin
Owner
CHS Snowmakers
Home
TurboCristal Quick Snow
Cornice
Snowmaker
Cornice II Snowmaker
Snowmaking
Systems LP3 Low E
Drift HTM
and Niedner Water
Pumps
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