MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2019

WINTER 2019 ML BLUE 19 The angle of the Bison groomer gets steeper and steeper as we ascend up Cruiser.The fresh corduroy lines left in our wake represent the zen garden of Ontario Niagara Escarpment territory. It’s 7am, and the sun is peeking over the edge of the horizon of Georgian Bay in the distance. The cabin fills with orange light. Not a bad office view. It’s late March at Blue Mountain Resort, the supposed end of another ski season, but a perplexing series of meteorological events is allowing the hill to continue operating full-tilt, eventually into April. The base of snow is deep, but it could be deeper in some places, notes Groomer Operator Willy Douglas. “For some of us old-school groomers, we know every inch of the hill and where typically needs attention, so we’re just always pushing snow there. But for some of these new guys, tech like this helps all of us know where and when snow needs to be moved to problem areas. It gives our guys a huge advantage.” He’s talking about the new GPS mapping technology Blue’s groomers are using to visualize and quantify snow supply on the hill. An iPad sits beside Willy’s controls, letting him know where he’s been and where he’s heading—but more importantly, what’s underneath us. “Right now I guess we’re technically floating in the air, because the base is so deep and this lets us know where the ground is. See?” He points to the groomer side profile on the screen which shows us hovering 1.5 metres above solid ground, perched on the hardpack. The Snowright system, developed in Collingwood, is an innovative mapping technology that incorporates a variety of snow management tools to account for varying melt rates and terrain use by targeting performance variants and snow depth data. In short, it tells groomers where the snow is light and where to push it, saving valuable resources, fuel, water, hydro, and time. Gauged by colour, the system continuously collects data in real-time to give groomers an unprecedented visual of snow depth under their machine. It also records the path of the groomer projected over the inputted runs so adverse weather conditions don’t impede grooming speed. UP FRONT The Snowright system, developed in Collingwood, is an innovative GPS mapping technology that incorporates a variety of snow management tools to account for varying melt rates and terrain use by targeting performance variants and snow depth data. BMR GROOMERS WORKING SMARTER NELSON PHILLIPS