Sugar Bowl Resort Upgrading Snowmaking Equipment

NORDEN, CA (CBS13) - Sugar Bowl Resort will spend $3 million to upgrade and expand its snowmaking equipment this summer.

The upgrade is the first phase of an $8 million snowmaking initiative.

Once it's complete the new system will make more snow in a third of the time of the current system. The new snow guns will include both fixed and mobile stick and fan guns. 17 of the guns will be mounted on towers and pointed at large areas. An additional 10 guns will be installed on Union Street. Those guns will be used s soon as temperatures drop and will produce early-season snow from the summit of Mt. Lincoln to the Village base.

The Executive Director of Mountain Operations, Jenna Prescott, said: "our current snowmaking system has 'good bones,' it just has not kept pace with the latest technology. By making this substantial move to low E guns we will see a huge increase in snow production immediately, using less energy."

Sugar Bowl also asked for permission to make snow on the advanced terrain on Mt. Disney, including the black diamond run, Disney Traverse, East Face, Montgomery and both the Lower and Upper McTavish trails.

Sugar Bowl is now closed for the 2017/18 season.