A cold snap and a white storm came through the area this weekend. The clouds have lifted, leaving only the cold air and the snow guns humming! The whales have started to form and we’re getting excited for opening day!! Check out this beautiful sunrise picture of the basin from this morning.
At Snowshoe, water from Shavers Lake is mixed with compressed air and pumped through a high powered fans and guns. The fan can spray the mixture nearly 60 ft into the air. As it leaves the machine, the water crystallizes and forms snow. The snow is piled up is large mounds known as whales. When the whales are large enough, the snow guns/fans are turned off and the whale allowed to set, or cure, for two to three days. This lets excess water drain off and helps produce a softer snow. As the trail gets closer to opening day, the whales will be spread out by the snowcats to form the trail surface that we’ll all be skiing on!