One of the ski resorts that’s changed the most over the past decade is adding a planetarium and telescope to its summit.
Wyoming Public Radio reports that the planetarium and telescope at Snow King Mountain Resort are taking shape. According to WPR, the space will include a “35-seat planetarium theater, an auditorium and classroom space, and a small gift shop.” In terms of the specific devices, Wyoming Stargazing stated that they will have a “24′ AshDome and a 1.0-meter PlaneWave telescope.” The telescope will be able to show 180-degree projections.
Samuel Singer, who’s the executive director of Wyoming Stargazing, described the uniqueness of the incoming attraction:
“It’s the only telescope on the top of a ski resort in North America as far as I can tell. So that’s a first – definitely the only observatory and planetarium on a ski resort accessible to the public in North America…It’s going to be both a public outreach facility and a research facility – the telescope is capable of conducting serious professional astronomical research and folks who visit the observatory will also get to look through the telescope.”
The idea of a planetarium came to Max Chapman, who’s the owner of Snow King, while Singer was teaching a solar astronomy program. Out of all the changes Snow King has made in recent years, the planetarium is among the least divisive:
“There are lots of people who didn’t like the expansion of the mountain, didn’t like the zipline, didn’t like the ropes course. But I think I saw one comment on Facebook that was negative towards the observatory and they were just arguing there were too many cloudy days in Wyoming to build an observatory here – that was it.”
The planetarium is projected to open during the late spring or early summer of 2024. The timeline is dependent on the amount of snow during this coming winter and any unexpected construction hurdles.
Image Credits: Snow King Mountain Resort, Wyoming Stargazing
