As climate change becomes an increasingly pertinent issue for ski resorts, snowmaking has become more important. Snow guns, as long as it’s cold, make skiing possible when Mother Nature’s feeling uncooperative.
While the capacity of these fleets is relevant, some ski resorts rely more heavily on their snowmaking apparatuses than others. For instance, a cluster of Colorado resorts, like Arapahoe Basin, push their snow guns to the limit in an effort to open as soon as possible.
Elsewhere, at Ski Ward, Massachusetts, a bit of advanced snowmaking equipment is enough to provide humble turns even when outdoor temperatures are surprisingly warm. Ultimately, it’s not just about the size of the snowmaking fleet—it’s what a ski resort does with it.
With that in mind, these are eight of the ski resorts with the best snowmaking capabilities in North America—in no particular order.
1. Heavenly Mountain Resort, California
According to Visit Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort, California, boasts a larger snowmaking system than the combined capacity of three of its neighboring resorts: Palisades Tahoe, Northstar Resort, and Alpine Meadows. While Heavenly is known for its robust snowmaking system, it still receives plenty of the natural stuff, 251 inches of which arrive each season on average.
Photo: Ben Bloom/Getty Images
2. Killington, Vermont
Another East Coast snowmaking stalwart, Killington, Vermont, is home to a system that can pump nine million gallons of water a day to over 250 snow guns under ideal conditions. In total, the resort’s snowmaking fleet includes 2,100 snow guns, accounting for 600 acres of skiable terrain. Killington’s not content with staying in one place, though.
Since its shift to independent ownership in fall 2024, the mountain is planning a $30 million investment. Some of these funds are dedicated to improving Killington’s snowmaking capacity to the tune of 1,000 guns.
Photo: Courtesy Sunday River
3. Sunday River, Maine
When it comes to snowmaking, Sunday River, Maine, doesn’t play around. The mountain, as of 2024, could pump 11,500 gallons of water per minute with its snowmaking system. In a press release, the mountain used a comparison catered towards its East Coast audience—11,500 gallons of water per minute could fill Fenway Park in 17 hours. Talk about a home run.
Bolstering this system is part of Sunday River’s future plans. According to the mountain’s website, it’s planning “annual investments to continue to expand our snowmaking capability and increase automation.” Ahead of the 2024–2025 ski season, Sunday River added 160 high-efficiency automated HKD snowguns to its already large fleet.
Photo: Courtesy Ikon Pass Media Assets
4. Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia
When you’re a ski resort located in West Virginia, like Snowshoe Mountain, you have to take snowmaking seriously. While the mountain picks up 150 inches of snow on average, it never wastes an opportunity to get the snowguns firing.
In the summer of 2018, Snowshoe dumped almost $4 million into its snowmaking and grooming systems. This upgrade included 90 fixed-position tower fan guns and 90 low-energy “stick” guns. Combined, these guns allowed Snowshoe to open more trails in December than ever before. “Snowshoe Mountain Muscle—well, that’s where all our snowmaking and grooming toys and an all-star snowmaking team come into play,” a page on the resort’s website reads.
Photo: Instagram/Ski Ward
5. Ski Ward, Massachusetts
Perhaps an outlier on this list, Ski Ward, Massachusetts, did something unexpected in 2023. That year, it beat out every other ski area in North America by becoming the first to provide skiing—no small feat for a tiny hill out East.
The stunt—if you can call it that—was facilitated by a Latitude 90, an advanced piece of snowmaking equipment that can blow snow when outdoor temperatures are as high as 77 degrees Fahrenheit. While Ski Ward certainly has a smaller snowmaking footprint than destination resorts, its use of the Latitude 90 earns it a well-deserved position on this list.
Photo: Lucas Herbert/Arapahoe Basin
6. Arapahoe Basin, Colorado
Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, is regularly one of the first—if not the first—ski resorts open in North America. How, you ask? Snowmaking certainly plays a role. In 2024, Arapahoe Basin began blowing snow in October, ahead of its opening day on November 2nd. This wasn’t a wall-to-wall opening, mind you, but it reflected a commitment to making snow. The cold Coloradan temperatures—and Arapahoe Basin’s high elevation—help, of course, too.
Photo: Shutterstock/Amdizdarevic
7. Keystone Resort, Colorado
Travel Weekly reports that, as of 2024, Keystone Resort, Colorado, had 672 fixed and mobile snowmaking guns capable of deployment across about 40% of the mountain’s 3,148 skiable acres. The snowmaking system received a 53 snow gun boost in 2019.
In 2024, the resort kicked off the season the same day as Arapahoe Basin—November 2nd—with 2 miles of skiing and riding on the signature Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon trails. In a blog post published in 2021, the mountain noted that the 2019 snowmaking investment helped “position Keystone as one of the first resorts to open in Colorado and North America each season!”
8. Mont Tremblant, Québec
Mont Tremblant, Québec, proves that Canadians—among other things—know how to manufacture snow. According to its website, the mountain is home to over 1,200 snowguns, which compose “one of the most sophisticated and powerful snowmaking systems in North America.”
In total, Mont-Tremblant makes snow across 527 acres. These snowguns are a necessity. “It’s been a long time since we could count on natural snow to provide a ski area that meets the demands of our guests,” Mont-Tremblant candidly noted in a 2021 blog post. Even if Mother Nature is becoming less and less cooperative, the hard snowmaking work of the mountain pays off. In 2024, the mountain opened for the season on November 28th.
Related: Three Things I Learned After Teaching Kids To Ski for a Day
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