The technology developed by SnowGun Technologies has been created over decades of passionate research and development and partnership with LP Snowsystems, LLC . The latest has been a game changer and has come to be known as the “Sledgehammer™”.
The Sledgehammer™ uses a hollow cone water nozzle, surrounded by 6 nucleators, which comingle downstream to produce a much higher volume of snow at 25wb than traditional Air/Water guns. With this technology, the Sledgehammer™ Tower achieves a 1:1 Air/Water ratio, converting 44gpm using a double headed tower gun.
The Sledgehammer™ Ground uses the same technology, but with less hang time. At temperatures of 25-21degrees at 2:1 air/water ratio is achieving 22gpm. At 20 degrees wb and below, switch to 1:1 nozzles and maximize ground gun output to 44gpm.
“We believe our new snowmaking technology will have a positive, profound impact on our industry. Resorts are able to utilize 80-90% of their water pumping capacity, at all times, with a fraction of compressed air. This enables more terrain to get open faster, while being very cost effective and providing guests more reliable downhill terrain than ever before. When your resort depends on you to make the snow, the Sledgehammer™ will make early season snowmaking more effective and help reduce financial risk.” -Brian Fairbank
Since 2008, The Fairbanks have been expanding their portfolio of business enterprises. Their endeavors include Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, Cranmore Mountain Resort, Bromley Mountain, EOS Ventures, Bullwheel Productions, Snowgun Technologies as well as other strategic investments.
*95psi air and 300psi water.
In 2016/2017, Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort replaced all 450 guns on the mountain with the Sledgehammer technology. Coming off the most challenging year in the history of the resort, it was the perfect time to make a whole sale change that would take the already powerful snowmaking plant to the next level. Since installation, the Sledgehammers have created dramatic energy savings by using less compressed air with a 100% increase in snow output.
The numbers speak for themselves but to put it into perspective, had Jiminy been equipped with Sledgehammer guns in 15/16 the way it is this year, the mountain would have been able to stay open from Thanksgiving to March 20th last year.
| USING SLEDGEHAMMER™ NOV 20-DEC 21, 2016 | PREVIOUS TECHNOLOGY | |
|---|---|---|
| # HOURS UTILIZED | 321 | 321 |
| GALLONS CONVERTED | 87,477,270 | 53,928,000 |
| ACRE FEET | 437 | 270 |
| TRAILS OPEN | 34 | 23 |
| % SNOWMAKING TRAILS OPEN | 86% | 59% |
| MILES OPEN | 10.6 | 6.5 |
| ACRES OPEN | 142 | 92 |
| AVERAGE BASE DEPTH IN FEET | 3.1 | 3 |
| GALLONS PER 100CF | 66 | 28 |
| SYSTEM AIR:WATER RATIO | 1.51:1 | 4.2:1 |
| AVERAGE GPM | 4,542 | 2,800 |
| AVERAGE CFM | 6,150 | 12,300 |
| AIR ENERGY COST | $44,940 | $89,880 |
*Guest Research Inc. NPS scores at Jiminy Peak 11/26/17 through 1/2/17
| Gun | GPM | GPH | Required Hours | Air:Water | Air SEI | Seasonal kWh | Air Energy Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SGT Sledgehammer™ Ground Gun | 22 | 1320 | 151 | 2:1 | 5.2 | 1090 | $156 |
| 31 | 1860 | 108 | 1.5:1 | 3.9 | 780 | $117 | |
| Traditional Ground Gun | 22 | 1320 | 151 | 15:1 | 39 | 7800 | $1170 |
| 30 | 1800 | 111 | 10:1 | 26 | 5200 | $780 | |
| SGT Sledgehammer™ Tower | 43 | 2580 | 78 | 1:1 | 2.6 | 520 | $78 |
| Traditional Tower | 22 | 1320 | 151 | 4:1 | 10 | 2000 | $300 |
