Snow Making 101

For the past week, it has been been below freezing here in Girdwood. This is perfect weather for snow. While we have about 8 inches on the ground, Alyeska Resort needs much more than this to create a solid base for downhill skiing. The other day we were driving, and Brent was drawn to a large mechanical object and insisted that we investigate. We drove as close as we could get and then got out and walked up to what looked like something from a movie set. Upon close examination, Brent shouted above the noise of the fan that this was a snow making machine. It is basically a powerful fan with high pressure water jets injecting water into the vortex of air. How cool (he thought) and began snapping pictures, including this one where he got a bit too close! Fortunately, the camera survived the localized blizzard.