The curse of being a huge resort...

Large ski resorts offer more terrain, more ski runs but also require much more man-made snow on a drought year like this one.

Without counting Deer Valley, its next door neighbor, this is the case of Park City Mountain and its 7,300 acres of terrain that count 348 trails. Today 2,465 acres and 148 trail are open, thanks mostly to the hard work of Park City snow-making crews and snow guns.

This season, we had to wait until the end of January to see most of the runs covered with man-made snow.

What lessons should we learn from this one-in-forty-year snow season? 

• First, that beefing up their infrastructure is key; adding underground pipes, water pumping and air compressing stations, gathering more water sources and perfectly maintaining the entire network. 
• Next, that improving terrain maintenance by removing rocks, bushes, fallen trees and stumps to get a maximum of terrain ready to ski with a minimum snow cover. 
• Finally, that resorts should begin making as much snow as they can as soon as the temperature gets low enough to produce snow, unless there's an abundance of natural snow, and never take a chance on mother nature. 

 I guess that's it. Gee! My prayers have been heard; it's now snowing hard outside!