Snow grooming
Snow grooming is the process to manipulate snow for recreational uses, usually using a snow groomer vehicle. This can be a tractor, truck or snowcat towing specialized equipment to move and manipulate snow. The process is used to maintain ski hills and snowmobile trails by grooming (moving, flattening and compacting) the snow on them.
Groomers built for ski hills are often different from those used to groom snowmobile trails. Manufacturers like American based Tucker Sno-Cat and European based Pisten Bully build different types of Snowcats for different applications. Several manufacturers of track conversions, like Sure Trac and Soucy Track, now build tractor based conversion groomers which are economical choices for snowmobile trail grooming and, because they are tractor based units which are designed to pull agricultural equipment, the tractor based groomers easily adapt to pulling trail grooming drags. Modern groomers built for ski hills employ front mounted, hydraulically operated blades, powered rotary tillers and specialized shaping equipment for not only maintaining ski slopes, but also for building snowboard tubes. Cross Country Ski trails are also groomed in similar fashion, but use specialized drags that imprint ski guides instead of grooming a wide path suitable for high speed snowmobile use.
Process
When a large amount of snow has fallen, or dispersed by snow-making equipment, a groomer will usually go out to pack the snow and improve skiing and snowboarding and snowmobile trail conditions. The resulting pattern on the snow is known as corduroy in ski and snowboard slang, and is widely regarded as a good surface on which to ski or ride. Snow groomers can also move snow made by snow machines. Groomers are mostly sent out during the night time after the close of the ski area as not to interfere with daily and night skiing.[1]
Environmental effects
Snow grooming and the associated snow packing is known to have negative effects. The compaction reduces porosity, permeability and water holding capacity of the mountain slopes, while heat flow rates and length of snow retention are seen to increase. This combines to produce longer and deeper frost prenetration into the soil, causing negative effects on the underlying tussock. It is suggested that the compacted areas be marked and shifted over time to reduce the ecological effects.[2]
See also
- Manufacturers
- Snowcat
- Snowmobile
External Links
- Webpage containing comprehensive list of Snow Grooming links
- Camoplast Camoplast now builds the Bombardier groomers
- Pisten Bully Pisten Bully Ski Slope Groomers
- Tucker Tucker Sno-Cat
- Soucy Group Makers of Soucy Trac tractor conversion grooming track systems
- Sure Trac Sure Trac Tractor based trail groomers
- VMC VMC Right Tracs Groomers
References
- ^ Snowmakers, snowmaking prevail when Mother Nature is uncooperative - Pocahontas Times - Mountain Times, Vol. 6 No. 2 February 2007
- ^ Likely impacts of snow grooming and related activities in the West Otago ski fields (pdf) - Fahey, Barry & Wardle, Kate; published by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, June 1998
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