TechnoAlpin: Production Optimization Starts From The Head!

In recent years, the needs for improved snow quality, increased energy and production efficiency, as well as the erratic and adverse weather conditions experienced more frequently in mountain areas, have been strong drivers for snowmaking installation optimizations. And when it comes to optimizing existing installations one of the solutions is to look at the snow gun fleet in place, particularly the lances.

Indeed, there are still many ski resorts which rely for their snow production on Classic Rubis and V2 lances, or also some much older generation snow guns such as A9, A30: For all these different models, there is an optimization solution: Replacing the head of the snow gun!

While the Classic Rubis and V2 lances have been very efficient snow guns at the time and opened new opportunities for snow production, TechnoAlpin never stopped looking for more innovative solutions and strived to offer the best snow production equipment possible to ski resort operators. Over the last couple of year, in its quest for innovation and improved performances, TechnoAlpin has released state-of-the-art lances, like the Rubis Evo, V3 or V3ee. For instance, looking at the Rubis line, the air consumption of the Rubis Evo is reduced by 75% for the 6 meter version and by 25% for the 10 meter version compared with the Classic Rubis.

And all these solutions can be implemented on existing installation through head replacement. Doing so a large part of the components of the snowmaking shelter remains unchanged, this means a limited investment to make these upgrade operations.

These optimization operations allow achieving several objectives for ski resorts operators: energy savings, improved production performance and reduced sound emissions. For instance, on the one hand, with the same air capacity, the reduced air consumption of the new heads will generate an additional air volume which will make it possible to install more snow producers or to operate more snow producers simultaneously, thereby allowing the snowmaking crew to make more snow or cover more terrain in the same amount of time, which can be priceless!

On the other hand, depending on the weather conditions of the season, the lower air consumption can lead also to saving on energy costs, by reducing the hours of operation of the compressor or simply by making it possible to remove the compressor, which would be now redundant.

These optimization operations on existing equipment take the overall performance of all the snowmaking installation to the next level and the snow production will greatly gain in efficiency and quality, which exactly what TechnoAlpin wants to provide from an optimum slope preparation.