CHS Snowmakers

Snow Farming

What is Snow Farming?

Snow farming is collecting snow for a desired location.  It can be done by moving snow with shovels or equipment, placing snow fences that allow the wind to deposit snow behind the fences or even making extra snow for late season skiing.  Benefits of snow farming include: collecting snow on ski trails, allowing the snow to melt in areas that need the water and to prevent snow accumulations in undesirable locations.

Snow Farming at home

Snow farming at home can have many benefits either if you have a small yard or many acres of land.  Snow farming can help to water your plants, trees and your lawn.  
There are many ways to do this.  If you shovel a sidewalk, driveway or a deck, shovel the snow onto the grass or around trees and shrubs.  This will benefit the vegetation by placing more water at its base while the snow melts.  If you are expecting a small amount of snow (less then 4") then you can lay clear plastic sheeting on the ground and let the snow fall on it.  Then you pick up one side and allow the snow to slide off the plastic and onto the grass.  You can repeat this process if it continues to snow.  This is also a great way to increase snowfall on a cross country ski trail or even a sledding hill. 

Snow Farming for skiing

Either downhill or cross country ski areas can benefit from snow farming.  Placing snow fencing will allow the wind to deposit snow on a ski trail. This can allow your ski area to open earlier with a minimal amount of snow.  Another way to snow farm is to use clear plastic sheets and allow the snow to fall on the plastic and then lift the sheets from one side allowing the snow to slide off onto the ski trail.  If you have a 30' wide ski trail, you can place a 10' wide sheet on each side of the trail allowing a 10' path in the middle.  Now the 2" of snow that falls can now be turned into 6" on that 10' path.

Photo courtesy of White Grass Nordic Center in West Virginia.

Snow fences at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

Protecting snow from the rain and sun

If you are in an area that gets rain in the winter and it melts your snow, here is something that can help.  This works best for narrow trails.  Buy silver tarps that are long and narrow.  Place them on the snow before the rain and it will shed the water and save the snow.  This can be very labor intensive, but if your trails are open and your competitors are not it will be worth it.
In the summer of 2002, Copper Mountain Ski Area in Colorado covered the snow of one of the walls of their half pipe (about 10' of snow) with a silver tarp.  They left it covered all summer and in the fall there was still several feet of snow.  The tarp idea does work.

Measuring snow fall.

Building a "snowboard" for measuring snow is easy.  First get yourself a sheet of plywood or another flat board that is about 2' by 2' and paint it white.  Then cut a 2" x 2" board 3' long and screw a yard stick to one side.  Place the stick on the center of the flat board and secure it with a screw from underneath (the 36" mark should be on top).  Now place the board where it can be protected from the wind (this is the hard part).  Make sure the wind can't blow snow off of it or "drift" snow onto it.  Measuring the snow should be done at least every 24 hours at the same time of day.  The snow maybe uneven on the board, find the measurement that would represent the level of the snow.

Home   
Insta-Snow   Cornice Snowmaker   Cornice II Snowmaker   
Snowmaking Systems   Hose and Fittings   Water Pumps   
Air Compressors   Photos   Customer Photos   Uses  What You Need   
Favorite Links   Snow Farming   About Us   Contact Us