Even the snowiest resort in the East can use a little help sometimes. Here at Jay Peak, we’ve been working to make sure that when winter rolls in, the snow on the ground gets better, faster, and a whole lot smarter.
This season brings an over $1.5M snowmaking upgrade that’s less about muscle and more about brains. We’ve added 49 brand new HKD Low E air-water snowmaking guns—32 on Queen’s Highway and 17 on Perry Merrill. These aren’t your drag-’em-out, hook-’em-up, hope-it’s-cold-enough kind of guns. They’re fixed in place for the season and far more efficient, using much less compressed air than the ones they replace. Translation: better snow, less energy.
On Perry Merrill, things get even slicker. We’ve installed HKD Klik automated hydrants that come with built-in weather stations. The second temps hit 28 degrees wetbulb, these hydrants kick on automatically and adjust the flow as the mercury drops. No waiting, no guesswork, no scrambling the crew. The end result? Those key connecting trails between Tramside and Stateside get covered faster, which means you can ski from one side to the other—or straight back to your condo—without having to hop on a shuttle with your boots still buckled.
Snowmaking’s only half the story, though. We’ve also added two new Prinoth groomers to the fleet. One’s equipped with a winch to handle our steeper terrain. The other has lidar snow depth sensors, which basically means it can read the snowpack in real time and let our operators adjust on the fly. That helps us lay down better corduroy while making sure thin spots get the cover they need. The data even loops back to the snowmaking team, helping them know exactly where to build things up.
It’s all part of a bigger 10-year snowmaking plan we’re rolling out—more automation, better efficiency, and ultimately, better snow for you to ski and ride on.
So when you carve into your first turns this winter and the snow feels right, just know it didn’t happen by accident. We’ve been busy getting the mountain ready.
