In roller coaster winter, Wachusett’s season ‘saved’ by timely upgrade
The Massachusetts ski area doubled its snowmaking capability.
may have received more snow in a single week this February than it did all of last season, but the Massachusetts resort still found itself in trouble. Nearly two ensuing weeks of unseasonably mild temperatures eroded much of the snow, threatening the resort’s 2016-2017 season.
Only a year before, the ski area was forced to close earlier than expected in March despite a combined 15 inches of snow falling in the weeks afterward. There simply wasn’t enough of a snow base to remain open. As a result, the mountain couldn’t reap the rewards of late-season natural snowfall.
Fortunately for local skiers, this winter is not be a repeat of last year. This time, Wachusett had an ace up its sleeve before another late-season snowfall arrived.
During the summer and fall of 2016, $2 million worth of major improvements were made to the mountain’s snowmaking capabilities. Dubbed the “X2 Snowmaking Project,” the new additions included a brand new pump house and 40 computer-controlled snow guns. According to the resort, the infrastructure upgrade doubled the mountain’s snowmaking capacity from 4,000 to 8,000 gallons per minute.
Even as other — larger — New England ski areas invested in snowmaking, the Princeton, Massachusetts’ project stood out as one of the most comprehensive (and expensive).
Steep cost and all, the project has been deemed an immediate success by resort management. Not mincing words, Wachusett vice president Carolyn Stimpson described the impact of the upgrade in plain terms.
“It’s saved our season.”
In a frantic period of snowmaking between March 3-6, the increased capacity was required to replenish Wachusett’s snow base following the prolonged thaw.
“March snowmaking is extremely rare,” explained Wachusett spokesman Tom Meyers. “We had four nights of snowmaking Friday to Monday. Normally we will be done with snowmaking by February vacation; this year we had stopped making snow by early February.”
At the beginning of February, it was starting to look like the snowmaking had already accomplished its yearly purpose and could be shuttered for the season. The mountain was fully open, and Mother Nature was adding a healthy amount of natural snow. By the middle of the month, the 2016-2017 season looked like a considerable rebound from what was a historically bad New England ski season a year ago. Wachusett received just 34 inches of snow in 2015-2016 (well below the annual 90-inch average). So, in a mere week in early February, Wachusett’s 35-inch snowfall exceeded the entire amount from the prior year.
But starting on Feb. 18, a period of warm weather took hold. For 12 days in a two-week period, the temperature hit at least 40 degrees (reaching as high as 70 degrees on Feb. 24). From Feb. 22-25, the temperature didn’t go below freezing at all, even at night.
Teamwork makes the dream work. #thankasnowmaker #thankagroomer
Photo: Devin Hayward pic.twitter.com/2H92rLEpJj
— Wachusett Mountain (@Wachusett) March 5, 2017
Finally, the thaw ended in early March, providing a window of opportunity to make snow. Using their new system, Wachusett snowmakers were able to rapidly rebuild the mountain’s snow depth and salvage the season.
“It was a great effort on the part of our snowmaking team,” said Wachusett president Jeff Crowley. The timing couldn’t have been better. Wachusett hosted the 2017 MIAA state championships on March 7 without any issue. And the snowmaking bridged the gap between weather cycles, keeping the resort open even during the worst warm spell of the winter.
Thanks to a late-season surge of natural snowfall that included 16 inches in Winter Storm “Stella”, the Princeton-based ski area will achieve its goal of staying open into the month of April. In the first winter after upgrading its snowmaking, Wachusett’s investment appears to be positive for skiers.
