Arizona Snowbowl, AZ
With no existing snowmaking system and wild fluctuations in natural snowfall, Arizona Snowbowl needed to design and construct a complete snowmaking infrastructure in a water-scarce environment.
Objectives and Solutions
Arizona Snowbowl had not had a snowmaking system and had seen wild fluctuations in natural snowfall. After thoroughly researching the snowmaking choices and many years of planning and legal challenges, Arizona Snowbowl chose SMI as its snowmaking partner to help with each step of the snow process.
Since water is very scarce, they are pumping water from the City of Flagstaff up 900 meters (3,000 feet) of vertical and 24,000 meters (78,000 feet) in length to a new snowmaking lake built at mid-mountain. Three pump stations are used to lift this water.
SMI & Torrent Infrastructure Installed
Water Transport & Storage:
Three pump stations to lift water 900 vertical meters over 24 kilometers
New 38,000 cubic meter (10 million gallon) mid-mountain lake
Torrent 700 m³/hr (3,000 gpm) fully automatic pumping station
280 m³/hr (1,200 gpm) water-cooling towers
Automation & Control:
SmartSnow software for complete system control and monitoring
Snowmaking Equipment:
25 Super PoleCat snowmakers
Distribution system covering over 40 hectares (100 acres) of terrain
9,000 meters (30,000 feet) of slopes covered
