Hello all!

I bet you’re wondering how our waterline infrastructure/snowmaking project has been progressing? Well, it has kicked into full gear! Over the past few weeks, crews have begun demoing old pipe and wire at the top of the hill. The plan is to get all the new pipe and wire installed in the vicinity of the valve house, as it is a high traffic area, to reduce congestion up on the hill as we move further into the summer. Although we have a rainy spring so far, The crews have made some good progress installing the new pipelines that head out of the valve house to the North side of the hill that feed Sarajevo, Placid, Melbourne, and North Face. Once these pipelines are stubbed out beyond  the top plat of the hill, construction crews will focus on high priority runs.

Sarajevo and Placid will be the first runs that will get the most attention, followed by Innsbruck, Helsinki, Sarajevo Pass and the Beginner Area. A crew will also start demoing and replacing pipe and wire to the South and East of the valve house once the lines heading to the North exit the top flat. The goal is to get all the work done at the very top of the hill first.

Sarajevo:

Over the past couple weeks, a crew has been working their way down Sarajevo, they have pipe welded and ready to be installed in the trench almost halfway down the run. Along with the pipeline, the electricians have been running new electrical cable that will feed the snowmaking machines.  Fully Automated tower snowmaking machines will be installed along the North side of Sarajevo, as well as some additional hydrants and pedestals to feed carriage snowmaking machines.

Placid:

Over on Placid, half of the lower part of Placid has been pipes welded up and prepared to be installed once excavation begins on that run.  A crew is up on the top flat of Placid as well excavating and hammering ledge rock to make way for the new pipelines and electrical cable. Fully automated tower snowmaking machines will be installed along the north side of Placid.

Innsbruck:

All the way over to Innsbruck, staging and welding will begin soon on the 10″ supply pipe that will replace the current 8″ supply pipe that runs up the South side of Helsinki. This supply pipe is moving to Innsbruck to both supply water to the ski run and feed the Valve House along with the 12″ supply pipe that traverses the North side of Helsinki. This change was to help be more efficient. Fully automated tower snowmaking machines will be installed along the north side of Innsbruck.

Sarajevo Pass/Calgary/Beginner Area:

Work has begun on Calgary and Sarajevo Pass, this line will feed the Calgary run along with Sarajevo Pass and the Beginner Area. As part of the project we are adding much needed additional infrastructure to the Calgary run. These additional hydrants and pedestals will allow snowmaking crews to be more efficient in this area. Along with the addition of snowmaking infrastructure on Calgary, four fully automated tower snowmaking machines will be installed along the north side of Sarajevo Pass. The beginner area will get some additional infrastructure along with one fully automated tower snowmaking machine.

Sean Peyla

Director of Facilities/Mt Ops

Giants Ridge