Health & Fitness
How We Make Our Own Winter Wonderland in the Poconos
Anyone living on the Atlantic seaboard can expect snow during the winter season, but exactly how much is the million-dollar question! The Pocono region generally sees an average of about 55 inches of powder per year with the occasional blizzard spiking that total every so often.
But what happens when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate? Snow has been fallen and melted with little to no consistency thus far in 2014. Inconsistency! It has certainly been VERY cold, but thus far the bigger snowstorms have pretty much passed us by. With guests expecting a "winter wonderland," what ever can we do to cope with Mother Nature's shenanigans?
The answer: WE MAKE IT SNOW! That's right, since 1991, Woodloch has been manufacturing piles and piles of artificial snow to keep our guests happy all season long. Once temperatures consistently reach 20 degrees and below, we fire up our snow guns and magically transform a blank canvas of grass into a towering mountain of white. Woodloch sculpts their own snow tube runs!
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We get a lot of questions on our snow-making operation so we thought we'd give you the behind-the-scenes scoop on the magic!
- Woodloch has three "snow guns" similar to those found at ski resorts. At peak operation, they transform 60 to 70 gallons of water into snow per minute!
- With ideal conditions, i.e. very low temperatures and humidity, the guns can make more than enough snow to fill four triaxle dumptrucks in eight hours!
- Our "Snow Cat," which resembles a bulldozer and a tank, is used by our staff to craft our tube runs. It is also used throughout the season for one to two hours a day grooming our runs.
- On average, we need about 10 solid nights of snowmaking to have enough powder to manufacture our tube runs. In total, it takes us about two weeks to manufacture and sculpt our tube runs!
- Water for the runs is supplied to us by both Lake Teedyuskung and our private water tower.
- The snow will typically stay with us through the winter season as long as temperatures aren't unseasonably warm. The last of it is pushed in the lake around the start of April. If it wasn't, the massive quantities would linger on the beachfront until about May!
If you haven't yet had the chance to see these mechanical marvels in action, you have the perfect opportunity right now! Round up your friends and family, and grab a snow tube ... I'll race you to the bottom! We can't wait to see you this winter!!
