At Alpine, snow isn’t just seasonal, it’s a science. Snowmaking is a mix of engineering, timing, plus a little magic, and in the past several years, Alpine has taken it to a new level.
Long before winter even crosses your mind, our team spends months preparing, tweaking, and rethinking how we create the perfect slopes. The focus with Phase 3 of Alpine’s snowmaking improvement plan focused on making the South side more intelligent. Â
Imagine a system that knows when the temperature is just right, ramps up automatically, and pauses without anyone having to flip a switch. That’s the kind of innovation our operations team has now brought to life. Instead of simply adding more snow guns, the goal was precision: better snow coverage, earlier, and with less energy wasted.Â
The Details
To make it happen, new waterlines were installed to feed four new high-efficiency fan guns and 38 new fully automatic HKD tower guns to move more volume, faster. From Gun Barrel to Look Ma, Chute, Lower Alpine, and Square One, the team worked top to bottom to build this new automated system. Â
The Team
What made this special wasn’t just the technology, it was the people behind it. Our crew spent weeks digging trenches, welding pipes, building and installing towers, and connecting it all to create the new automated system. When you carve down Look Ma, you’ll be gliding over months of planning, precision engineering, and a whole lot of Alpine pride. Â
The result? Better snow, faster opening times, and more consistent conditions across the hill. And the best part? This is just the beginning.
Want to read more on this recent investment in snowmaking? Check out Engineering Winter, page 8 in the 2026 issue of Skidoodle Magazine.