Ski areas
Mountain operations in one place: weather, upkeep and crew safety
For mountain operations teams running snowmaking, grooming and lifts. Weather at the summit, mid-mountain and base, one maintenance history for every lift, gun and machine, and an SOS for the people out on the hill at night.
The problem
What happens on the mountain at night is rarely in one place.
A night of snowmaking, not recorded
What ran where, for how long, and why it stopped often lives in a few radio calls and the crew's memory. Next season's plan starts without it.
Each system keeps its own picture
Snowmaking control, lift records, weather and radio traffic each sit in their own system or binder, so nobody sees the whole night in one place.
One reading for a whole mountain
The snowmaking window is often judged from one thermometer at the base or the area forecast, while the summit can be colder, drier or windier.
A whiteboard at shift change
The night crew hands over on a whiteboard or a page in a binder. A lift's repair history sits in another binder, and the groomers' in a spreadsheet.
People alone on the hill
Snowmakers, groomer drivers and patrollers often work alone, at night and away from the base, where a call for help may not be heard.
Machines nobody can place
Groomers and snowmobiles are spread over the mountain overnight, and finding one starts with a radio call.
What you can do with Powoflow now
The snowmaking window
Wet-bulb temperature decides when the guns can run. Here is where we stand.
Today: the readings it comes from
Each station records air temperature and humidity at its elevation, with their history. Your crew works out the wet-bulb temperature from them with its own chart or calculator. Powoflow does not calculate it yet.
Next: wet-bulb on the station
We are adding a calculated wet-bulb temperature to the weather station, with an alarm for when the window opens and closes. It is not available yet.
Your threshold, not ours
Each area, gun and crew works to its own number, so the limit is yours to set.
Looking for a ski area to build this with
Your snowmaking system and radios, connected.
Your snowmaking system, on request
We can connect to the snowmaking system you run, so its data sits beside your weather, work orders and machines. We do not have such a connection today. We build it on request, for your equipment. Tell us which system you run.
Your two-way radios, on request
Most digital radio systems can report each radio's GPS position. We do not connect to radio systems yet, and we want to build it with a ski area: every radio on the same map as your tags and machines, and later a record of radio traffic you can search. Tell us which system you run.
Where to start
Records and work orders first. Hardware on request.
Bring your lift, gun and machine list
We bring in the spreadsheet you keep now, and set up the asset types for lifts, guns and machines with you.
Plan the first checks
Add a maintenance plan for each lift and groomer check, and a checklist for the hydrant walk. None of this needs hardware.
A winter's weather, kept
Every reading from every station stays in the history. Next autumn you can see when this winter's cold nights came, how often wind stopped a lift, and how the summit compared with the base.
How weather monitoring worksKnow where the machines are
A tracker on a groomer or snowmobile shows where it was last seen, whether it is moving, and when it was taken off.
How asset tracking worksWhat it does not do yet
- We do not calculate wet-bulb temperature yet. The station records the temperature and humidity it is worked out from.
- We do not measure snow depth or snowfall.
- Powoflow is not a snowmaking automation system and does not replace one. We do not connect to snowmaking systems today, and can build that connection on request. Control of pumps and similar equipment is available on request through the Powoflow Sense Mesa gateway or the S2100 data logger, set up with you for your equipment.
- Each weather station is wired to a gateway where it stands, so it needs power and a connection there.
- Tags and trackers need a gateway in range. Tell us about your terrain before you count on coverage.
- Your own people receive and act on alarms, at all hours. We do not watch them for you.
- Alarms show in Powoflow in your browser. On a phone they need the mobile app.
- We do not connect to two-way radio systems yet. We are looking for a ski area to build that with.
Tell us how a night of snowmaking runs at your area
We will go through what a station, a tag and a work order can record there, and what still needs a person.