SMI: High-Volume Snowmaking Operation is Key to Midwest Resort's Success

“We knew early on that snowmaking was critical to a great experience on the hills...the snow is the reason people come; everything else is secondary." –Chip Perfect, President, Perfect North Resort

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High-volume snowmaking has proven to be the key to success at Perfect North Slopes (Lawrenceburg, IN, USA), a busy Midwestern U.S. ski area that supplements an 18″ average snowfall with as much as ten feet of man-made snow per year. The operation employs 245 snowmaking machines and an infrastructure that pumps about 120 million gallons of water annually, giving the resort a 3-4 foot snowpack throughout the season. The system is so efficient that operators can start as many as 200 snowmakers in about an hour.

At its modest start-up in 1980, Perfect North had only rope tows, T-bars and about a dozen snowmakers covering roughly seven acres. But the family-owned operation has expanded each year and now features five chair lifts and six surface lifts serving more than ten times the skiable terrain, as well as one of the largest tubing operations in the entire U.S. According to President and General Manager Chip Perfect, the ability to quickly produce high volumes of good quality snow has been instrumental to the growth of the resort, which serves skiers and tubing enthusiasts from the metro areas around Cincinnati (Ohio), Lexington and Louisville (Kentucky), as well as Nashville (Tennessee).

“We knew early on that snowmaking was critical to a great experience on the hills,” Perfect said. “The snow is the reason people come; everything else is secondary. So we really focused on it right from the beginning, and we’ve enhanced our snowmaking capability every year."

“We started with some used equipment and a handful of snow machines that we designed and built ourselves,” he continued. “We could pump about 500 gallons (1,892 liters) of water per minute back then, running 10-15 guns at a time. Our capacity now is around 10,000 gallons (37,850 liters) a minute.” Perfect North Slopes hosted about 7,000 visitors in its first season. Now the area can see that many skiers and tubers in a single day.

“We got good results from those early machines, but around 1985 we purchased our first equipment made by SMI (Snow Machines, Inc.), and we quickly realized how much more efficient their designs were,” he said. “In fact, our energy consumption has risen by about 5 times with all our growth over the last 22 years, but our snowmaking capacity is now 20 times greater, which means we’re roughly four times more efficient.”

Ease of operation also became a factor as the ski area grew. “When we fabricated our own designs, each snow gun tended to have its own personality,” Perfect observed. “The SMI equipment is very consistent and reliable, which helps us get the system warmed up and running quickly, with a minimum of maintenance or adjustment.”

Operating hours vs. snowmaking time

One of the challenges the staff faces at the resort is its long operating hours, which can significantly reduce snowmaking time. “We make so much snow that it’s really not a pleasant experience for visitors, so we generally limit it to the hours when we’re closed,” Perfect explained.

“All 22 trails are lit for night skiing, so between the climate and the long hours, we have a fairly short window for snowmaking,” he continued. “We need to be able to hit it hard when the conditions

are right. For many years, we were open until 3:00 am on Friday and Saturday nights, but that’s been cut back to 1:00 am this year to give our crews more time to replenish the snowpack and groom the runs,” he added.

All of the snow guns now in use at Perfect North are manufactured by SMI, and every one is permanently mounted on a SnowtowerTM (or pole-top unit). Most are the company’s signature PoleCatTM or Super PoleCatTM designs, with either hill air feed or on-board compressors. Unlike some resorts that boast 100% snowmaking on their trails, Perfect North runs enough machines to be able to make snow on virtually the entire skiing and tubing area at the same time.

“Dollar for dollar, the Super PoleCat is the most cost-effective snow machine on the market,” Perfect said. “That’s especially important in the tubing area, where the volume is so important. We essentially rebuild the tracks every time we make snow, and we have to choose our snowmaking nights carefully.” He estimated that the tubing area serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year.

SMI’s Standard PoleCat is a nozzle fan design that excels in a wide range of weather conditions. Available in manual or automatic mode, the versatile PoleCat uses a 10 or 15 HP (7.5 – 11 kW) fan and 18 nozzles that modulate droplet size to suit specific climates. Nucleated with a central six-jet nozzle, water flow is easily controlled by three heated, self-draining valves. It can be powered by a piston or vane compressor, or by onsite air feed.

The Super PolecatTM is the company’s fan-driven “big throw” snow gun, which can be specified with either a vane or piston compressor (5 or 10 HP; 4.4 kW or 7.5 kW), available with a 20 or 25 HP fan (15 kW or 19.4 kW. Four heated valves deliver up to 142 gpm (540 liters per minute) of water to thirty nozzles, with a central 6-jet nucleator. Available options include a spray manifold heater, tower or carriage mounting and oscillation with a 70° range of motion.

Service has been an important facet of the long-standing relationship between Perfect North Slopes and SMI. “Some suppliers tend to forget their roots as they expand, but SMI has maintained their commitment to quality and service,” Perfect concluded. “Their core values are much like our own, and having them on the snowmaking team here has been a big factor in our success.”

SMI is a global supplier of cutting-edge snowmaking equipment, construction and engineering services. Headquartered in Midland, Michigan, SMI has flourished through five decades of consistent growth in quality, production and reputation. The company has served over 400 resorts around the world, from simple to very complex designs, and typically has over 30 snowmaking and engineering projects in motion simultaneously. SMI services customers ranging from marginal snow condition areas like Southern California, New Zealand and the lower Midwest to very cold climates such as Northern Canada, Northern Russia and Northern China.

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Perfect North supplements an 18
² average snowfall with as much as ten feet of man-made snow per year, often allowing the resort to remain open during marginal seasons when other areas cannot.


The operation employs 245 SMI snowmaking machines and pumps about 120 million gallons of water annually.  The system is so efficient that operators can start as many as 200 snowmakers in about an hour.


Snow volume is especially important at Perfect North’s tubing facility, one of the largest tubing operations in the entire U.S., serving approximately 100,000 visitors per year.