Small Ski Area Debuts Snowmaking Tech That Works In All Temperatures

Man-made snowmaking systems are absolutely necessary to make ski areas commercially viable in the mid-Atlantic.

The varying temps and poor average annual snowfall mean that most ski areas rely on snowmaking to keep the lights on. The one downside to snowmaking, if you want to look at it that way, is that temperatures have to dip below freezing in order for the snowmaking guns to work.

That’s about to change for one small ski area in southeastern Pennsylvania.

^Spring Mountain Trail Map

Spring Mountain Adventures in Montgomery County is debuting a ground-breaking snowmaking technology from Latitude 90.

The system is essentially a fully-enclosed snowmaking freezer box that can make snow in temps as high as 80-degrees-Fahrenheit. Crazy, right?

Check out the photos of the Latitude 90 in action yesterday at Spring. For context, the temperature was hovering around 70-degrees all day.

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“This is big… HUGE news. We can now make snow in ANY temperature! It’s 70+ outside and there’s a pile of snow out there ❄️. There are only a few of these machines in the World and Spring Mountain has the very first in the North East US. This game changer combined with many other snow making upgrades = an amazing Winter of fun ahead – no matter the forecast!”

It doesn’t look like the Latitude 90 can pump out a ridiculous amount of snow, but it could make a substantial impact for a small ski area like Spring Mountain.

Here’s a summary of how the technology works:

I searched for videos of a Latitude 90 in use but the internet is surprisingly lacking. The best I could find was this short clip posted to Latitude 90’s YouTube page a couple of years ago.

This system was reportedly working in 80-degree-Fahrenheit temps.

Check it out:

Could this be the future of snowmaking systems in the Mid-Atlantic? Could Latitude 90 sell these to mountains down south that can’t rely on temps to dip below freezing? Hmmmm…

Stay tuned here at Unofficial Networks for a follow-up on the Latitude 90 machine at Spring Mountain. I just recently moved back to the area and I plan on heading up that way to see this bad boy for myself.