SUN VALLEY -- Up until a few weeks ago, this winter has been lacking snow. Rather than waiting for Mother Nature, one Idaho ski resort controls its own fate each season.
While many Idaho ski resorts waited for the snow to fall mid-January, it's a different story for Idaho's Sun Valley resort.
"Even without the help of Mother Nature, we have had wonderful skiing here since Thanksgiving," said Jack Sibbach, Sun Valley's Director of Marketing & PR.
Decades ago The Sun Valley Resort in Ketchum took snow making into its own hands.
"All of this is man made. All that road up there is man made. You know there's natural on top of it now," said Dennis Harper.
Dennis Harper is Sun Valley's version of Mother Nature in charge of making snow. "We do the same thing every year, people just don't realize it until there isn't any snow."
If you've ever skied down the slopes of Bald Mountain, you've probably seen the snow making machines To you and me, they're metal rods wrapped in yellow padding, but to Sun Valley those 660 snow making guns are economic insurance.
"It's an insurance that we will have good ski conditions," said Sibbach.
A quick trip up the Gondola, a quick run down one of the trials, nestled in between trees and off the groomed track, there is the building where Harper and others harvest nature.
The ingredients are simple: just air and water, but the recipe is more complicated.
"The purpose of the air is to break the water into a small molecule," said Harper.
But it's even more technical.
"Your water departures and your pumps, and your pumps and your pressures and water temperatures and flow meters, how many gallons a minute you're flowing," said Harper.
That's why everything is run by a computer.
"So the computer goes through, makes its calculations of how much water, how much air it's going to need to run those guns," said Harper. "This is the all answer every thing. We just tell the computer where we want to make snow a,t and we tell it by priority."
In the right conditions these guns spray a fine mist which freeze before hitting the ground. The result is all different types of snow from a fluffy powder to a moist, dense, packable base depending on the recipe.
"It's the largest computerized snow-making system in the country," said Sibbach.
This expensive investment capable of creating two to three new inches of snow each night and moving it can be difficult.
Enter the "Beast".
"I'm not sure where they come up with the name beast, but it's fitting," said Jim Wieand, Groomer at Sun Valley.
It's a groomer that's faster, more powerful and a third wider than its predecessors.
"For flat out grooming wide runs, they're pretty amazing," said Wieand.
But where they are really useful is handling the man-made snow that tends to pile up over night.
"They definitely have more oomph to them to be pushing snow up hill," said Wieand.
And all of that happens long before the lifts start and skiers take the first run.
"Basic idea is everyday skiers come and tear it all up and make bumps and stuff, and then we come in and fix it up," said Wieand.
And all of this happens behind the scenes 16 hours a day, so customers can enjoy eight hours of runs regardless of where the snow came from.
"It gives us a product to sell, and it really affects the economy of this valley. Where would we be without it this year?," said Sibbach.
Every year, Sun Valley starts making snow towards the end of October when the temperatures get cold enough and continue making the snow through April.
Sun Valley does offer free snowmaking tours to the public. They take place Thursdays and Saturdays at 11 a.m. and last about one-and-a-half hours. Just sign up at the River Run Day Lodge life ticket counter. Only a maximum of 15 people are allows on each tour. For more information, call 622-6136.
In addition to the snowmaking tour, the public can also ride the "Beast" on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. You can signup at the recreation center at the Sun Valley Village. For information, call 622-2135.
