The NSAA Midwinter Meeting has always been an excuse to play a little mid-season hookey, see old friends, talk out common problems and try another’s snow. This year’s January 11-14 meeting at Waterville Valley, N.H., won’t depart from that tradition, according to NSAA Executive Director Dick Garis, but it promises to be unique in just about every other respect.
Snowmaking—testing, demonstrations and talk-abouts—heads the list this year. The agenda, probably the most complete ever dreamed up for a midwinter meeting, also features slope maintenance seminars, performance testing of slope-grooming vehicles, night skiing, a short-ski competition and NASTAR races, GLM demonstrations, a three-hole golf tourney, a look at Waterville owner Tommy Corcoran’s handiwork and the traditional après-business get-togethers.
There will be the usual business meetings, but as was the case at the NSAA Annual Meeting in Hyannis, Mass., last spring, oral reports will be replaced by written copies to be distributed to NSAA members—“not only a time-saver,” says Garis, “but it makes for more precise and thorough presentations.”
Taking a note from the pages of the Slope Maintenance Conference staged at Winter Park, Colo., last January, this year area operators will again have a look at the newest slope-grooming equipment, and this time they’ll have a chance to see how the equipment performs on Eastern snow.
“No one machine does all things best,” says Garis. “Area operators realize the need for different types of vehicles to perform their various slope maintenance operations. Grooming requirements vary tremendously between areas in the East and West, and this year we’ll be able to compare a vehicle’s performance in New Hampshire with its performance last year in Colorado.
The highlight of this winter’s meeting, however, is snowmaking. After years of speculation, product claims and counterclaims, manufacturers sat down with the NSAA last fall to map out a program of testing procedures.
Snowmaking guns—several manufacturers had already signed up at this writing—will be tested during the week preceding the Midwinter Meeting. The tests, developed in meetings between suppliers and ski area operators, will be supervised by Peter Alford, president of Restech Engineering and a frequent SAM contributor. They will attempt to establish the quantity and the quality of snow produced and the air/water consumption, air/water temperatures and pressure and the ambient temperature and humidity required to produce the snow.
Those attending the Waterville Valley meeting will be furnished with a printed summary of the snowmaking tests when they arrive. This data will be augmented by on-slope snowmaking demonstrations and a seminar on snowmaking principles and techniques. After the seminar, snowmaking manufacturers will have the opportunity to further explain their equipment.
Waterville Valley, the site of all the activity, was chosen for several reasons. Besides its accessibility, Waterville is one of the East’s newest and most outstanding ski developments. Master-planned from the start—the area’s now in its sixth year—its race training facilities, snowmaking and slope-grooming are considered among the region’s best. While there, area operators will have a chance to look over the area’s facilities and talk to owner Tom Corcoran about his plans.
If you’re coming from any distance, fly to Boston. The airport is within two hours of Waterville and, driving from there, it’s a straight shot up Interstate 93. Get off at Exit 28 to pick up N.H. 49 into the valley. For reservations in the area, contact Dev Jennings, Waterville Valley Associates, Waterville Valley, N.H. 03223. The phone is (603) 236-8371.
“All in all,” says Garis, “the operator is in for a busy and, we’re certain, rewarding four days.”
