Gore Mountain Conditions

[tirolski]

What you are saying is that ORDA expanded Gore, plans to continue expanding, added XC trails that require snowmaking and traded the best terrain park for a competition venue, all without having enough water to support it all. This should all go in the "ORDA's biggest mistakes" thread.

mm

Gore ain’t got a water problem cause the Hudson is there & reservoir has been expanded.
The expansion of snowmaking infrastructure won’t do much if there’s not enough cold weather, money and worker bees.

To cover the total trail acreage (and flats) is more challenging compared to other more “compact” ski areas in the east. Throw in the recent bump shows being put on and the degree of difficulty rises.

 

[Kleetus]

Looks like they picked up at least an extra inch last night based on the snow on top of the groom

 

[Milo Maltbie]

Gore ain’t got a water problem cause the Hudson is there & reservoir has been expanded.
The expansion of snowmaking infrastructure won’t do much if there’s not enough cold weather, money and worker bees.

To cover the total trail acreage (and flats) is more challenging compared to other more “compact” ski areas in the east. Throw in the recent bump shows being put on and the degree of difficulty rises.

If Gore doesn't have a water problem (which I don't know of that's true), then the only constraint is money and cold weather. They should be spending the money on snowmaking before zip lines and marginally useful lift replacements, Cold weather isn't really the problem. Belleayre and other mountains were able to reach 100% weeks ago. If they had adequate snowmaking Rumor could have been open when Lies opened, and maybe both could have opened earlier.

Who would build a ski area in the East and think that snowmaking was not the most important thing?

mm

 

[Harvey]

When I asked Mike about this years ago, he said the permitted limit was 9000 gallons per minute, but he system could only use about 6000.

I believe. That was years ago too.

 

[tirolski]

When I asked Mike about this years ago, he said the permitted limit was 9000 gallons per minute, but he system could only use about 6000.

I believe. That was years ago too.

The filed data for Gore’s snowmaking water withdrawal from the Hudson can be found in DECInfo Locator map.

DECinfo Locator

Adjust the map to see NC.
On the left, under Permits and Registrations, Click Water Withdrawal Annual Reports, then Click water icon “" for Gore>>> opens folder with yearly/monthly data.
& There ya have it.

 

[snoloco]

Gore actually does have a water problem. Since they added so many low E guns, air is no longer the limiting factor like it was back in 1995 when they added the Hudson River feed. I believe back then, they felt they had enough water for the size of the mountain, and they rarely ran at maximum water capacity anyways since they were always limited on air.

Gore has two snowmaking systems. The Hudson River system can pump 4800 gpm, and the water can either be used directly on the mountain at the ski bowl, portions of Burnt Ridge, and even up to the main base, or it can be used to fill the reservoir. The reservoir system operates at 6800 gpm, and supplies water to the rest of the mountain. Prior to 2018, the reservoir system also operated at 4800 gpm. They have no booster stations.

There's a 2000 gpm deficit, so if they're constantly refilling the reservoir, then they've got about 10 days of snowmaking before they run it dry and need to stop and refill it.

It's possible that they can squeeze a bit more out of the existing system by using both systems to put water directly on the mountain during shorter windows. If they're going to have to shut down after 3 days because it's too warm, then they might as well drain the reservoir and refill it during the warm up.

If they want to upgrade (which they need to do), then they'd need to look into increasing their permit for water withdrawal. If they upgrade the reservoir system again, then they will just drain the reservoir faster and need to shut down sooner.

 

[tirolski]

There's a 2000 gpm deficit, so if they're constantly refilling the reservoir, then they've got about 10 days of snowmaking before they run it dry and need to stop and refill it.

There was a 2K deficit till they enlarged the res.

It's possible that they can squeeze a bit more out of the existing system by using both systems to put water directly on the mountain during shorter windows.

Why wouldn’t ya?

If they're going to have to shut down after 3 days because it's too warm, then they might as well drain the reservoir and refill it during the warm up.

"Absolutely ridiculous that anyone suggested such a thing..." (kidding)

Costs $ to fill the online big res from the river then to drain it when it’s warm.
Or do ya mean pump >6800 from the res. when it’s cold. Gonna need an updated permit and/or pump(s).
Folks most likely modeled it for max efficiency when folks did the 2018 UMP, hopefully.

It ain’t rocket surgery.

 

[Harvey]

Sounds like it hasn't change in terms of total capacity.

This weekend you could see how the reservoir ice had cracked and dropped several feet.

 

[snoloco]

They can pump up to 4800 gpm into the reservoir and up to 6800 gpm out. If they do both at once, then there's a 2000 gpm deficit, as in 2000 more gpm are going out than in. With a 2000 gpm deficit, they will drain the reservoir in 10 days.

Where it gets complicated is that some or all of the 4800 gpm can also be pumped directly onto the trails, meaning it never reaches the reservoir. If they use the entire 4800 gpm on the trails, and don't send any to the reservoir, while still pumping 6800 gpm out of the reservoir, then it will drain in about 3 days.

This means that if they have a 3 day window to make snow, and then a warm up, they should be using all of the capacity on the trails and not refill the reservoir, since there will be time when it is too warm to make snow when that can be done.

Prior to the 2018 upgrade, they could only pump 4800 gpm out of the reservoir. The reason they enlarged the reservoir is so that it doesn't drain out as fast when they are pumping more water out than in.

They can definitely make more snow now than pre-2018, but they've continued to enlarge their snowmaking footprint, so they need to expand capacity again.

 

[Harvey]

You're hired!