I'd agree with Scott and Mike - while it would be nice to have additional lights, those we already have are useless without snow. We've had generally OK temps for making and holding snow. Perhaps covering a small loop part-way or all the way up the hill to the west of the sled hill would be feasible. With its north orientation, it should hold snow the best. The pond for flooding the skating rink is right there. Other than that, I'm clueless re: whether it's really feasible, but it's worth investigating.
The folks at ABR are nice and I'm happy to support them once a year, but I'd rather contribute a donation to snow-making gear and continue to live 6 miles from the Elver trail, than spend interminable hours on my butt and even more money for motels in trips to the UP, not to mention that we all may by our travels be contributing in some additive way to a small fraction of the unseasonable warmth we've had this "winter." > ---------- > From: David M. Peterson[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:35 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [XC] making snow at Elver Park? > > If we have money to spend, I'd rather see it go to more miles of lighted > trails at Elver. > > At 11:24 AM 1/15/02 -0600, Scott Bachmeier wrote: > >Mike Ivey brought up the subject of generating interest in snow making > >at Elver Park at last night's MadNorSki meeting...and as I cycled home > >from said meeting, I thought that we should try to keep some momentum > >going on this idea. > > > >I talked a bit today to a co-worker who helps with the snow making > >activities at Blackhawk Ski Club. As one would expect, snow making > >like they do at the downhill places is complicated and expensive, > >with the major concerns being: > > > >* water source > > > >* high-pressure pump(s) > > > >* piping > > > >* snow guns > > > >However, if we try to keep it simple and small-scale, I think adding > >*some* snow making capability at Elver is possible. If MadNorSki has > >some money in the bank, and if there is support from Madison Parks, > >let's capitalize on these positives. We'd probably need MadNorSki > >volunteers to operate the snow making equipment, but I think there > >are enough of us (myself included) who would gladly do so if it meant > >skiing earlier, better, and longer at Elver. > > > >With our limited monetary resources, we might be restricted to > >low-tech devices like the "Backyard Blizzard" > > > >http://www.backyardblizzard.com > > > >At $2000 each, though, perhaps we could set up a network of 3 to 5 > >of these units to blow some snow around the flats at Elver. I doubt > >we could set something up to cover the wooded trail sections, but > >maybe we could also blow a snow pile to be used for filling in > >bare spots and whatnot in other sections of the Elver trail. > >Just having a narrow oval track of reliable snow would please a lot > >of folks in snow-lean times like these. > > > >Anyway, these are my fleeting thoughts so far on the Elver Snow > >Making Idea. Perhaps MadNorSki has already done feasibility studies > >in the past -- I'm relatively new to the Club, so I don't know. > >But if some sort of Ad Hoc "Snow Making Committee" is needed to > >look into this further, I'm willing to volunteer... > > > >-Scott > > > >-- > >Scott Bachmeier University of Wisconsin - Madison / SSEC / CIMSS > >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottb > >_______________________________________________ > >http:www.MadNorSki.org > >XC mailing list > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc > > David M. Peterson > USDA, ARS Cereal Crops Research > 501 Walnut St. > Madison, WI 53705 USA > Phone 608-262-4482, FAX 608-264-5528 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _______________________________________________ > http:www.MadNorSki.org > XC mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc > _______________________________________________ http:www.MadNorSki.org XC mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/xc
