Sometimes rather than typical grooming, ski resorts will conduct a practice called “track packing.” Essentially, after a large snowfall, a snowcat is driven over the snow without a tiller. Just the weight of the machine is used to pack down the snow and force out air pockets, creating a more durable snowpack.
It doesn’t produce the best surface for skiing or snowboarding, and it’s certainly not that nice corduroy that many of us love, but it can help the snow last longer through the season and produce an overall better snowpack. This clip from Saas-Fee is a great demonstration of the practice.
It looks like quite a blast to surf a snowcat down the mountain like that, though I would certainly love to actually ski it. They’re likely building up a piste to appeal to the groomer lovers, but you can tell the person that skied that run before the groomer came in had a killer time with it.
