With narrower weather windows and a challenging start to the winter, Deer Valley Resort’s massive East Village snowmaking expansion has proven its worth this season. Brett “Bear” Hawksford, the resort’s Snowmaking Manager, sat down for a gondola ride to break down what makes the new system so impressive.
The East Village side features 155 fan guns and 1,040 stick guns fed by 80 miles of pipe in the ground. At peak output, the team has pushed nearly 20,000 gallons of water per minute across the mountain, with total seasonal usage already approaching 300 million gallons and potentially reaching 400 to 500 million before the season wraps.
A key design decision Bear pushed for was connecting the new air pipes with the legacy Deer Valley system, allowing the team to share compressed air in both directions between Silver Lake and the East Village. That flexibility has been critical during tight cold weather windows.
About 90% of the new fan guns are fully automated and remotely controlled, allowing a crew of roughly 20 people per shift to manage over 300 guns at once. The result has been near-daily terrain openings.
