MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2019

20 ML BLUE WINTER 2019 Snowright can even collect data and sync with snowmaking efforts to calculate how long each gun must continue to run, or how many gallons of water are needed to reach the optimal snow depth for a specific location. Blue isn’t just using the local tech to make the grooming team’s job easier, they’re focusing its sustainability points as a way to maximize eco-efficiency and to reduce the impact of burning fuel and operating machinery to produce snow. Snowright can potentially help operators save as much as 30 percent on snowmaking costs, and achieve better coverage across entire tenures as a result of a more targeted approach to pushing snow. “Our studies show that resorts are unwittingly overproducing between 20 to 50 percent in excess snow,” says Snowright in a statement on their website. “They are also burning extra fuel and wear and tear with groomers pushing misplaced snow. Two major successful resorts we studied had targets of 1 metre and overproduced an average of 41 and 54 centimetres respectively.” Eliminating waste, reducing emissions and fuel consumption, and increasing the quality and speed of the most advanced snowmaking facilities in North America has been, and remains, part of BMR’s continuous focus on innovation. —Nelson Phillips ABOVE AND BELOW NELSON PHILLIPS