The Mount Abram ski area in Greenwood will add 10 low-energy snowmaking towers for next season, thanks to a grant from the National Ski Areas Association.

The ski area won the grant as part of the association’s effort to promote strategies to make the ski industry use less energy and be more environmentally friendly.

“These grants are a great vehicle for not only implementing new green projects at U.S. ski areas, but also to encourage the sharing of information of successful environmental programs and practices among our member resorts,” association President Michael Berry said in a prepared statement. The association awarded five grants in all.

Mount Abram and Crested Butte in Colorado each were awarded 10 high-efficiency snowmaking machines designed by Massachusetts-based Snow Economics/HKD Snowmakers. Each grant is for $80,000 in equipment.

“We’re taking a look at some of the areas where skiing can evolve and become a greener sport,” said Kevin Rosenberg, marketing and sales director for Mount Abram. “Snowmaking is big because we are creating our own weather, and that doesn’t happen without a significant amount of energy.”

Mount Abram runs 100 snowmaking guns, using about 200 gallons of water per second. The new machines, in ideal conditions, can make twice as much snow as typical snowmaking apparatus, for significant energy savings, Rosenberg said.

The other ski mountains that won grants were Alta, Utah; Grand Targhee, Wyo.; and Stevens Pass, Wash.

 

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com