Puma: King of the Mountain

The new Puma® snowmaker has been developed with input from customers, service technicians and sales reps, with a goal of maximizing production over a wide range of conditions, especially in marginal temperatures. The Puma was designed to interface with automation and control software for optimum performance in any snowmaking weather. It is equipped with an onboard aspirated weather station, air and water pressure monitoring, and automated flow control. The small flow steps deliver a smooth snowmaking curve, fine-tuning the water volume, air pressure and nucleation to best suit the existing conditions. Each unit employs a convenient touch-screen panel at eye level for manual control when desired, and the Puma can be configured to communicate with a central computer via hard wire (copper, CAT 5 Ethernet or fiber optic), or by radio. The machine is well-suited to central intelligence (a single computer or control room for all snow guns) or distributed intelligence (some type of computer to manage each snow gun, pod or ski trail).

Thanks to the Puma’s level of automation, operators can raise and lower the barrel or adjust the oscillation arc up to 359° on any number of machines from a central command station, helping to deliver pinpoint control with minimal labor. The result is better snow distribution and reduced man-hours needed for grooming. Described as SMI’s most efficient design to date, the Puma delivers fast start-up and shutdown, with the option of true hands-free operation. The onboard aspirated weather station delivers accurate data to the controller for automatic adjustment to changing conditions, ensuring that each machine’s settings are individually optimized for maximum snowmaking.

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