Mont-Orford is investing $2 million in snowmaking for the 2023-24 ski season!
At a time when temperature variations are very present, investments in snowmaking are essential for ski resorts. Here is what awaits skiers for next season.
The most important element in this investment is necessarily the new pump at our pumping station.
With this, we are able to snow two different areas of the mountain at the same time, unlike how it used to be. For example, we can snow the upper and lower Orford hillside simultaneously or the Giroux North and Alfred-Desrochers hillsides at the same time.
These have been placed at strategic positions in the mountain so that we are more efficient, and above all, faster 12 février during our snowmaking.
The fixed snow guns are very interesting since it means that our teams have much less equipment to move. When we move snow guns, we have no choice but to stop snow production and then start it again. When the fixed guns are in operation, you can already prepare another snowmaking area without wasting time!
These investments represent a 25% increase in the resort's snowmaking capacity!
Skiers and snowboarders can expect faster opening of the slopes and hillsides, since snowmaking can take place in two areas at once and thanks to better efficiency in terms of equipment and movement on the ground!
It will therefore be particularly interesting for the beginning of the season, in order to open up as many trails as possible, but also for the holiday season. We always want to have the largest skiable terrain for this very busy period and these investments will certainly allow us to do so.
In the summer of 2018, the station modernized its system with the addition of a high-pressure line and the replacement of obsolete water pipes among other things.
In particular, this made it possible to snow certain areas that had been natural until then, such as the 4 km trail, the entire Alfred-Desroches hillside and the Family trail. Since then, these trails can be served by snow guns and above all, skied earlier and longer!
For the 2022-23 season, around twenty fixed snow guns and two fan guns have been purchased by the resort and installed in more complex snow-covered slopes, such as the top of Trois-Ruisseaux.
Those investments represent more than 6 million dollars!
