Do you ever wonder why Cypress Mountain has by far the most terrain on the North Shore - well, a big part of it is because we have invested heavily in an aggressive fleet of huge Snowcats to push, shape, process and groom the most snow every season.

Cypress Mountain utilizes seven PistenBully Snowcats, five in the downhill area, one on the Cross-country trails, and one on standby should there be any problems with any machine overnight. The PistenBullys are manufactured in Germany, by Kassbohrer the leading manufacturer of snow tracked equipment in the world, and purchase price for each machine ranges from $500,000 to $650,000. 

The most expensive machines are WinchCats which have a powerful overhead winch containing over 1000 metres of specialized steel cable. The winch hook on the machine is connected to strategically placed anchors buried deep into the ground at the top of some of our most important ski runs and the machine can be pulled up the steep slope with a combination of engine and winch power. Humpty Dumpty, T-33, Crazy Raven, Rainbow, and Horizon are "winched" almost every night and others like Hutch, Jasey Jay, First Sun and even occasionally Bowen Face are groomed out by these amazing climbing machines on a schedule depending on conditions and recent snowfall.

Our Grooming Team are specialized operators who often work in difficult conditions grooming out the Resort Terrain from 11 PM at night after the trails are cleared and swept, to 9 AM in the morning . They take on many other duties during the night including digging out lift loading and unloading areas after a big snowfall, moving snowguns, and even moving or resetting terrain park rails and boxes with their specially adapted snow blades.

The Nordic Cats have hydraulic attachments which connect to the "track-setter" which must be raised or lowered with down pressure to till and mold the classic Cross-Country skate ski trails. With a complex trail network including plenty of intersections, grooming out the Nordic Area properly requires a unique understanding of how the network fits together. At the end of his or her shift the Nordic Groomer will also tune up and leave fresh corduroy on the Tube Park chutes.

"Corduroy" is the term used to describe the finish left by the powerful tillers which trail the machines. They grind up the surface snow into powder before combing it with an attached heavy plastic mat leaving the grooved corduroy appearance - much to the delight of early morning skiers and snowboarders.

Our team of highly qualified Heavy Duty Mechanics go over the machines daily and perform regular maintenance and major repairs as necessary to ensure that the PB's are ready to keep the slopes in the best possible condition every night. 

Cypress Mountain consistently maintains one of the newest Snowcat Fleets in the Industry and we take much pride in the efforts of our team of talented Machine Operators and Mechanics! Stay tuned for an update on our acquisition of a new 2022 PB 600 WinchCat for next season!

SNOWsat is a professional slope and fleet management system with snow depth measurement, which is based on satellite-guided positioning. The current position of the snow groomer is continually plotted to an accuracy of a few centimeters. Precise positioning is essential for high-accuracy snow depth measurement. The SNOWsat base station calculates these figures using GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO satellite signals. In the snow groomer the GNSS receiver and the on-board computer continually calculate position, snow depth and other vehicle data, record it and present it on the touchscreen in the driver‘s cab. When the vehicle is within range of a SNOWsat WiFi access point the data is automatically transmitted to the SNOWsat server and stored there.

The analysis software being used with SNOWsat enables the slope and fleet managers to access diverse information and perform additional analysis processes. This results in diverse effects: optimized workflows and vehicle routes, for example, increase efficiency and also reduce fuel consumption. Vehicle data and snow depths are displayed easily and clearly on a map of the ski resort.