Newsletter #8 - IDE All Weather Snowmaker Autumn 2010, Successful Operation in Pitztal & Zermatt

IDE All Weather Snowmaker produced high quality snow at the resorts of Pitztal and Zermatt where impressive snow making during the end of September and beginning of October enabled early opening of the ski season.

Operating Report Pitztal Glacier
IDE All Weather Snowmaker has been operating at Pitztal since early September.
The produced snow has been accumulated in piles to reduce melting (the temperatures in some instances have exceeded 20°C). During the end of September, snow was distributed with snow cats and groomed to a slope of almost 1 km in length, which linked between the two glaciers of the resort.
The snow production during September enabled Pitztal to operate all the cable cars and slopes in the resort in early October. The snow produced by IDE Snowmaker has proven to be stable and robust throughout the hot days of early October.

Pitztal has operated the IDE All Weather Snowmaker for about 25 days this season, and will continue to operate it whenever it is required.

Dr. Hans Rubatscher, CEO Pitztal Glacier resort: “The Snowmaker has created the basis to enable early opening with all ski lifts and slopes”.

Operating Report
Zermatt Operation of IDE All Weather Snowmaker has started on September 30th.
The goal was to offer a stable snow connection from the glacier to the Trockener Steg station.
This goal was achieved after only 9 snow making days. On October 9th, the slope from the glacier ski
area to Trockener Steg cable station could be offered to the skiers.

Christen Baumann, CEO Zermatt ski area:
“This is a significant comfort improvement for the ski tests that were started on October 9th; changing the skies at Trockener Steg area is much easier. 1000 pairs of skies are ready for the testing until end of November. The slope connection is about 600 m long with snow depth of more than 1 meter".

New Pneumatic Snow Distribution System
A newly developed pneumatic snow distribution system was successfully installed and tested at Pitztal during month of September. The system has proven to be very effective. The snow can be transported
to different places to ease preparation and grooming of the ski slopes.