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No one actually knows for sure if snow making would actually work effectivly in Scotland.
Exactly the point that has been getting banged on about. We need data, data, data and its largely data we don't have. Each season that goes without the data being collected in meaningful quantities, we're another season away.
The Top Basin runs are more or less still there - with snowmaking the base would be more solid, deeper and more robust. As well as more chance of the base pulling through, snow making would allow a faster bounce back from such thaw events.
Yes the snow is expensive. Yes the snow can melt, but even when it does melt - how much snow could have been made, at what cost, and how many skier days could it have achieved before it melted? We don't know and we need too.
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I simply cant see a couple of cannons being able to cost effectivly create drifts of any significant depth.
A couple of cannons would have been enough for CML to have patched up the Top Basin runs for last Christmas which would have made a big difference financially.
That said though we shouldn't be talking about the odd cannon or two, but an extensive high density system that can make a big difference in a fairly short period of time.
As for the gullies - getting the initial base down is more than half the battle, if that can be given a helping hand all the better. In some areas not feasable, Coire Cas it probably is - the same volume of snow that would put down a 20m wide run in the Ptarmigan Bowl at 12inches would put a 4ft base in the burn course of the Gunbarrel given it's narrow confines. Those volumes of snow are nothing compared to what some of the East Coast resorts in the states put out in a night - even ones the size of the Lecht.
In short: No Snow = No Sport = No Income. The bottom line is it's all about snow on the ground. Get the data, study it, work out the potential, if it doesn't add up then walk away, but if it does then assess the business impact, look at the lynchpin role these areas play in sustaining year round tourisim and work it into the strongest business case that can be made.
Edited 1 times. Last edit at 15.11hrs Thu 14 Dec 06 by alan.