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Late Night Apres Ski...

Happy to report Duncan is run(hiccup)ning!
There was a glitch but we support a patient understanding
because a detachable quad chair lift is a complex system
and we know how hard the Mountain Crews were working
to get Duncan back on-line for the high volume of the
Holiday season.

So, let's give 'em a break, no one's more motivated than the
Mountain Crews to have Duncan rolling.

Detail below...

---------------------------------------------------------------

Breaking Tremblant News!

The Good...

72(*)Open Trails...

The Better...

Sunny, Much Warmer Temps, Light Winds...

The BEST!

DUNCAN OPEN !!!

EXCELLENT WORK TREMBLANT!

Grab Your Ski's...
Grab Your Board...
...And Hit The Slopes at Tremblant!


FULL SPEED AHEAD!

Page under construction, but you do not need any
more reasons than what's here right now...
Go
Go
GO!

REMEMBER THIS?

Today is the day you get to see it again!

8 MINUTES FROM BOTTOM TO TOP!
If you are new to Tremblant, then you get to see this for the first time!


Check out todays Official, Downloadable pdf
Trail and Grooming status, courtesy of
http://www.tremblant.ca




Links:

http://www.tremblant.ca

http://www.tremblant.ca/mountain/winter ... port-e.htm

(*) Understanding Trail Counts - http://alturl.com/n54py

http://www.tremblant.ca/mountain/trailmap-e.htm

http://www.tremblant.ca/galleries/webcams/index-e.htm

http://translate.google.com/translate_t ... =fr&tl=en#

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/CAQC0360








.

I'm dying to know what's going on!!

Noon = duncan open!

*Happy dance in my cube*

.


It was just a "glitch" because here's proof of
Duncan carrying passengers this morning....

...and there were others before this too.

Note the time stamp and the "f" in the file label.
Was doing an archive batch for a "Tremblant Geographic"
entry, so have the preceding a,b,c, etc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Proof of Duncan Support/Up-date.

Please note Web Cam Timestamp.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


It may just show that regardless of prep, teething problems
may occur.

lol @ "teething"

I just glanced at the snow report http://www.tremblant.ca/mountain/winter ... port-e.htm what the hell is "Powder Maker" ? Sounds vaguely dirty.

The "Powder Maker" is an attachment put on behind the Snow-Cat, a.k.a. "Groomer"
a.k.a. "Packer", that generates a surface finish different than the traditional "corduroy",
featuring a loose "Powder-like" granular top coat.

Corduroy or the very fine ridged groomed surface we're usually used to has become
sort of the standard of the industry, so you really don't see that much reference to
the Powder Maker any more.

I saw that on the list too, first time in a long time and immediately thought
that they're wanting to break up the base if they think it's getting too compacted.
They might also be thinking about keeping it loose so they can recover it from a
weather "event" that might be coming up. P'tit Bonheur, right, for beginners
and/or those that just like things smooooth.

If I understand it correctly, and from recollection, the term Powder Maker can be
associated with 2 different "Old School" designs.

The first is basically like dragging a big chain-link fence behind the Snow-Cat.
It would be the width of the machine and then say, about 6 feet out behind.
The weight of the linked chain being pulled behind the machine over the surface
it has just driven over turns the whole track into a fine pulverized granular "snow".

The second I've heard referred to as a "powdermaker" is a large drum with many, many
bevel edged holes in it, rather like a cheese grater, on top of which it may also have
an equal number of protruding spikes, all of which serve to break up the surface into
a fine particle.

In the "old days", I even recall seeing the Chain pulled behind the Drum for maximum effect.

I'm not a technical expert on the current mechanical advancements in these designs,
what I know is from a Layman's observations, a keen interest in all things mechanical
and from getting kicked off the Mountain by the Patrol after last run, for hanging around to
talk to the Mountain Crews briefly to ask questions, thank them, and take pic's, lol!
(see links)

I think it would be really interesting to see if we can get permission to do a "behind
the scenes" look at how they do it now. Engineers are moving forward with technologies
here just as quickly as in Automotive or even Aviation, so the details are bound to be
changing to make things more efficient with a higher quality "Product".

Good Question.

I'll put links here and add more as I go through the archives.

start with: http://alturl.com/j7ses

Here are 3 pic's from our Mountain Equipment
"Guys like this stuff" Archive...

These are from our equipment archives. This first one shows the
whole machine so you can put the second one, a close-up,
in perspective.
Close-up from above.

Here we can see a Drum with a whole bunch of nasty looking teeth.
Behind it, are a comb-like curtain with much smaller cerated teeth.
We're thinking this is the modern design "Powder Maker".
Basically same as above, different angle, still nasty teeth very
much capable of chewing up "Hardpack" a.k.a. "ice".
Thinking that these teeth will be made from a very hard grade of
machine tool steel so that they can withstand immense force.
We'll add this to the "Tremblant Geographic" link above
for others who like, or want to know about this stuff too.



.

Thank you again for the prefect answer lol

Can'r wait to ride some corduroy ans hear the vrrrrr sound it makes under my board.