Snow groomer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Snow grooming is the process to manipulate snow for recreational uses, usually using a snow groomer vehicle. This can be a tractor, truck or snowcat

Snowcat

A snowcat is an enclosed-cab, truck sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to move on snow. Snowcats are often referred to as 'trail groomers' because of their use for grooming ski trails or snowmobile trails...

towing specialized equipment to move and manipulate snow. The process is used to maintain ski

Ski

A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...

hills and snowmobile

Snowmobile

A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...

trails by grooming (moving, flattening and compacting) the snow on them.

Types

Groomers built for ski slopes are often different from those used to groom snowmobile

Snowmobile

trails. Groomers like American based Tucker Sno-Cat

Sno-Cat

The Tucker Sno-Cat is a tracked vehicle or a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions.Different models have been used for expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic during the second half of the 20th century...

, the Canadian based Lamtrac www.lamtrac.com and European based Pisten Bully build different types of Snowcat

Snowcat

s for different applications.

Several manufacturers of track conversions, build tractor based conversion groomers which are economical choices for snowmobile trail grooming. Because they are designed to pull agricultural equipment, the tractors adapt easily to pulling trail grooming drags. Modern groomers built for ski slopes employ front mounted, hydraulically operated blades, powered rotary tillers and specialized shaping equipment for not only maintaining ski slopes, but also for building half pipes, ski/ snowboard terrain parks and snow tube parks. Cross Country Ski trails are also groomed in similar fashion, but use specialized drags that imprint ski guides instead of grooming a wide path suitable for high speed snowmobile

Snowmobile

use.

Process

A groomer will usually go out to pack the snow and improve skiing and snowboard

Snowboard

Snowboards are boards, usually with a width the length of one's foot, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user...

ing and snowmobile trail conditions. The resulting pattern on the snow is known as corduroy

Corduroy

Corduroy is a textile composed of twisted fibers that, when woven, lie parallel to one another to form the cloth's distinct pattern, a "cord." Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel between the tufts...

in ski and snowboard slang, and is widely regarded as a good - albeit unexciting - surface on which to ski or ride. Snow groomers can also move snow made by snow machines. Groomers are mostly sent out during the night time after the close of the ski area

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

so as not to interfere with daily and night skiing

Night skiing

Night skiing is the sport of skiing or snowboarding after sundown, offered at many ski resorts and mountains. There are usually electric lights along the piste which allow for better visibility...

Environmental effects

Snow grooming and the associated snow packing is known to have negative effects. The compaction reduces porosity, permeability and water holding capacity of the mountain slopes, while heat flow rates and length of snow retention are seen to increase. This combines to produce longer and deeper frost

Frost

Frost is the solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air. It is formed when solid surfaces are cooled to below the dew point of the adjacent air as well as below the freezing point of water. Frost crystals' size differ depending on time and water vapour available. Frost is also usually...

penetration into the soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

, causing negative effects on the underlying tussock

Tussock

Tussock most often refers to a small hillock of grassy, or grass-like plant growth, but may also refer to Plants and ecology, Insects.- Plants and ecology :*Tussock *New Zealand tussock grasslands*Serrated Tussock...

. It is suggested that the compacted areas be marked and shifted over time to reduce the ecological effects.

External links

Tråkkemaskin.no / Snow-groomer.net (webpage and photogallery related to snowgrooming)
Koz's Snowgrooming Links (private webpage related to snow grooming)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Types

Process

Environmental effects

See also

External links