We showed up in the relatively empty parking lot and geared up. On the way, we swore they were running the lift. Turns out, ski patrol was there practicing lift evacuations. I imagine this would be more fun if it were 50 degrees and sunny.

With all the talk about fan vs. compressed air snowmaking, we thought we would do some scientific study and compare the multiple methods. Here you see a ground based fan gun. We found it was actually tolerably quiet. You can see the whale of snow in the background. The snow under foot provided good grip under our skins during the ascent. It was supportive and the K-9 companion in our group was not punching through the upper crust.

Here, you see a ground based compressed air gun. There were 3-4 of these within sight of this one, even with the reduced visibility from all the water in the air. These were quite loud, preventing most conversation as we skinned by. The snow was less pleasant than the fan-created snow we had experienced just yards below.

The tower mounted compressed air guns were equally as loud as the ground ones. The biggest advantage we saw was that we could skin right next to them without having to avoid hoses and without getting caked in frozen water. This snow was the least pleasant to skin on and created a nightmare posthole scenario for our four legged friend.

Obviously, this trail needed any one of the three snowmaking devices we encountered lower on the mountain. This must not be a high enough traffic area.

With the longer throw of a fan, could they mount one at the top of this trail, make it oscilate, and cover the whole thing in ice?

Im a big fan of tail clips.

Bobby, Trip - we picked the wrong way down. I found this on my next run. More consistent pitch, zero traffic and mossy surfaces under a 12" blanket.