Bromont, mountain of experiences | The secrets of the snow factory

(Bromont) After an early start at the end of November, winter has been called to order by the last jolts of fall in recent weeks. Nevertheless, thanks to the magic of snowmaking, several Quebec ski resorts have already welcomed their first skiers of the season. To find out how we manage to offer skiing so early and how we manage to ensure good conditions throughout the winter, The Press had access to the secrets of the Bromont snow factory, one of the largest in Quebec.

It is November 21 and, with the wind blowing and the mercury hovering around -5°C, winter seems to be well established at the base of Mount Brome. We walk everywhere in the snow, propelled all around us by huge moving fans. The winter landscape is however betrayed by the profile of the swimming pools of the aquatic park, still visible here and there. In a few days, they will be completely buried.

The Bromont, montagne d’experiences snow factory is able to transform no less than 30,000 liters of water per minute into snow. These are 400 poles and fans that can be powered at the same time. At the start of the season, efforts are concentrated on the base, around the chairlifts and the new radio frequency identification gates – their bases were still clearly visible during our visit.

This is the mountain’s first snowmaking phase, which has eight, stretching out until the end of January – we also witnessed the last one, more on that later. Certain conditions are obviously required to launch activities in the fall. “You need a sufficiently cold night, but the following day must be cold too,” explains Marco Bernard, track maintenance supervisor. We want to at least be able to bridge the gap, so that we can leave the system for the trouble. »

The great manitou

In the mountains, a dozen operators – they are called “snowmen” – are busy positioning and adjusting the poles. They are all in communication with the headquarters of the factory, where the veteran Pierre Amyot officiates. Eyes fixed on his seven (!) screens, he follows operations in real time. “Here, we see our three water sources, the river, the golf course lake and the mountains,” explains the operator, showing us his screens. We fill our main basin with water from the river, but we use the auxiliary tanks when we need a lot of water, when the temperature drops below -10°C and we can use a lot of our equipment. »

The station draws its water from the Yamaska ​​River, thanks to a 1.6 km long pipe. “We have a real-time supply permit from the Ministry of the Environment,” President Charles Désourdy told us. It therefore depends on the flow of the river and the volume used by the municipality; we have the residual right. But there is plenty of water, we are not even at 1% of what flows in the river. In a winter, it is between 250 million and 300 million gallons of water that we borrow and that we return when it melts in the spring. »

Depending on the model chosen by Bromont, it takes between 48 and 60 hours of manufacturing to snow a trail, depending on the temperature. But what exactly is this model? “That’s the secret of Caramilk,” replies Mr. Désourdy, laughing. We’re aiming for a thickness of about 1 meter of snow, that’s why we manage to keep good conditions. »

To better understand, we ventured to ask him how far we could go if we put end to end all the snow-covered trails in Bromont each winter. We thus piqued the curiosity of the trained engineer, who immediately grabbed his calculator: “With about 25 m wide, 1 m deep, we arrive at… 89 km! Yes, enough to get from the foot of the slopes of Bromont to the top of Mount Royal!

All this snow is propelled onto the slopes by some 1,500 poles installed almost everywhere on the five slopes of the resort. Fans are also being installed on the increase – 31 were added this year, bringing their number to 68. These are more expensive to buy – $75,000 each – but much more efficient, because their technology does not require no compressed air, and they can also be controlled remotely. “A fan can produce about four or five times more snow than a pole with the same amount of water,” emphasizes Pierre Amyot.

Poles are also more efficient than 20 years ago: “We’re talking about guns that use water pressure to reduce the size of the droplets, so it takes less compressed air to break them up even more, they stay that way longer in suspension, explains Charles Désourdy. With a compressor that once powered maybe 3 cannons, today we can power 15.”

The groomsmen’s ball

Once the snow is on the slopes, the snow groomers come into play. There are nine in Bromont, two of which are equipped with winches and 1,200 m of steel cable that allow them to cling to bases fixed to the top of the steepest slopes. Two others are equipped with sensors that allow you to know in real time the depth of the snow under their tracks. “Before that, the guys did checks using a big pole that they planted in the snow,” explains Mario Bernard, showing us the screen of his impressive machine. “That’s how we figured out where to make snow. Now, we take the snow where there is some and we push it where it is lacking, which means that we save a lot. In three and a half years, we have made a profit from our system, purchased five years ago. »

Precise topographical readings are recorded in the summer when the tall grass is trimmed, the data is then sent to an online directory. “Wherever there is blue, I have 12 feet of snow and more,” the supervisor tells us. When it’s green I have about 3 or 4 ft of snow then when it’s yellow I have about 2 ft. »

Groomers as such are fascinating machines. The control lever has 32 separate functions that control the front blade and rear auger, which can be positioned to suit trail conditions – even recondition the surface by adding a harrow to crush deep ice after severe thaws or heavy rains.

“But to make a good snow groomer, it takes at least three years,” he adds. Precisely, in the neighboring track, I noticed that there was a notch between two passages of snow groomers and that is unacceptable. I’m going to talk to my guys about it this evening, so that they pay attention to their overlaps. »

“Every year, the first point of the budget is the investment in the snowmaking system, confides Charles Désourdy in conclusion. That doesn’t mean it’s always the biggest budget item, but every year there are investments to be made for the snow. When I arrived in office, in 1998, the manufacture of snow in the industry, it was an insurance. Me, I said: “No, it will be a guarantee”. It sucks to say like that, but for Bromont, global warming is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. »

When we know that the holiday season is the busiest in Quebec ski resorts, we understand the importance of quickly offering suitable conditions. And that requires more than ever an efficient snowmaking system.