An Ode to the Snowmakers

Opening weekend has come and gone, but before we move on to the first holiday period of the season I have to pause to give props to the guys and gals that made this past weekend possible - the snowmakers. The process of making snow is thankless, not to mention energy-intensive, physically exhausting, mentally challenging, and plain difficult under the best of circumstances, but it's a luxury that most resorts simply can't live without. I awoke Saturday morning to a few inches of new natural snow, but it was the sound of Okemo's snowguns roaring across the valley in front of my ski house that made opening weekend possible.

According to at least five Facebook groups, it used to snow during the winter. While I'm young enough to believe most of what I read on Facebook, I'm also old enough to remember when it really did dump consistently during the winter. Even with those consistent dumps, however, the conditions and coverage at ski and snowboard resorts worldwide wouldn't be half of what they are today without snowmaking.

Mary Bellis, About.com's Guide to Inventors, says we have Wayne Pierce, Art Hunt and Dave Richey to thank for the wonder that is modern snowmaking. I've never met any of them, but to them I say this: Gentlemen, wherever you may be, know that tonight I will be toasting you in recognition of the debt owed to you by skiers and snowboarders everywhere! Good show, men.

More about Snowmaking: Who Invented the Snowmaking Machine?