Michigan Ski Blog – Skiing and Snowboarding in Michigan

Snowmaking at Boyne Highlands

Snowmaking at Boyne Highlands – Photos – 2020 / 2021

December 8, 2020

Boyne Highlands Snow Report – 12/08

We’ll be opening for the 2020/21 winter season on Wednesday, December 16 at 9am to our season passholders, Ikon passholders, and resort lodging guests ONLY.

Daily lift tickets for the public will be available starting on Saturday, December 19, with a limited number of tickets available for sale online.

We look forward to seeing you on the slopes soon! Please take the time to familiarize yourself with what to expect this winter at Boyne Highlands Resort.

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December 7, 2020

Boyne Highlands Snow Report – 12/07

We haven’t yet set an opening date for Winter 2020/21… We are patiently waiting for mother nature to cooperate with some great snow conditions! Check back here on this page for the latest information. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with what to expect this winter at Boyne Highlands Resort.

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The BOYNE name is synonymous with outstanding snow. And at Boyne Highlands, we’re proud to be a vital part of that legacy.

Since the 1950s, we have maintained our commitment to snowmaking – and to the constant refinement of both our equipment and our techniques. As years passed, our demands outpaced the industry, leading us to become snowmaking innovators in the mid-1970s, when we filed our first snowmaking patents.

Through our consistent dedication and investment – with intensified efforts over the course of the past three years – BOYNE now has the largest, most efficient snowmaking system in the Midwest. At Boyne Highlands, that difference is clear. And the addition of proprietary Boyne Low-E fan guns has helped us to better mimic natural snow, securing our place as one of the region’s top winter vacation destinations, with Michigan’s best skiing and snowboarding conditions, all season long.

Why the New Boyne Low-E Fan Snowmaking Guns make BOYNE a Superior Winter Vacation Destination?

BOYNE has become well known for being one of Michigan’s most popular winter vacation destinations.  Our snowmaking ability is one of the many reasons why.  Snowmaking essentially consists of pulling water from a reservoir or water source, pumping it onto the mountain and combining it with compressed air to convert as much water into frozen snow crystals as possible.  The frozen particles settle to the ground and any water droplets that do not freeze, drain through the surface.

So what makes BOYNE snowmaking unique?  The difference is in design modifications made to the newest snowmaking guns in our fleet – hence the unveiling of the Boyne Low-E fan gun.  The Boyne Low-E gun is more efficient than ever at converting water into snow crystals – especially at marginal temperatures (above 25 degrees).  This greatly improves snow quality and lessens icy build-up while boosting energy and water efficiencies more than any previous technology.  Over 250 of these new guns are making snow this winter at BOYNE, representing a significant percentage of the terrain coverage and resulting in the ability to stay one of Michigan’s top choice for family winter vacation – whether Mother Nature provides the snow or we do.

The core of the Boyne Low-E fan gun includes a new seeder and manifold design that when combined with the augmented barrel shape, leads to improved mixing of the seed with water from the spray nozzles.  Thus, we can create a lighter, low moisture snow that dramatically enhances surface conditions.  The magical transformation of water to snow requires all processes to work in conjunction.

With the Boyne Low-E fan gun, compressed air is injected with a very small amount of water in an inner ring at the center of the gun.  This compressed air/water mixture then freezes as it’s propelled by the fan and nucleates with water from the outside nozzles creating crystals.  The extended and tapered nose cone adds about 18 inches to the overall length and improves expansion cooling as the air leaves the gun.  The greater the expansion cooling, the more water freezes.  The unique shape and additional length raises velocity and distributes snow further allowing more hang time for powdery snow.  However, the true secret weapon in this snow gun is the exclusive Boyne designed water bath technology that is capable of yielding higher production output while achieving lower energy consumption.  The combination of each of these modifications has created a one-of-a-kind fan gun only found at Boyne’s North American resorts – making this winter vacation destination an obvious choice.

The composition of the proprietary Boyne Low-E fan gun is courtesy of BOYNE’s snowmaking masterminds and our long-time friends from the world’s leading snow gun manufacturer, SMI of Midland, Michigan.  Each new Low-E fan gun is built on resort grounds and previous models are reclaimed and converted with the necessary upgrades.

Snowmaking at BOYNE continues to be one of the many reasons we are Michigan’s top winter vacation destinations.  Our snowmaking abilities make it possible to keep skiing and snowboarding conditions ideal so guests can utilize every minute on our beautiful Michigan resort.

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More News From Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands

 
 

Boyne Mountain Photos

Boyne Mountain – Photos – 2016

Below are the latest photos from the Boyne Mountain Resort Page On Facebook.

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Boyne Mountain – Photos From Instagram

Here are the latest photos of Boyne Mountain via instagram. If you have an instagram photo to share of your visit to Boyne Mountain, choose “Boyne Mountain Resort” as your location and your photos will appear in the photo stream below.
 

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Boyne Mountain – Photos From Instagram

Here are the latest photos of Boyne Mountain via instagram. If you have an instagram photo to share of your visit to a Boyne Mountain, tag it with #boynemountain and your photos will appear in the photo stream below.

Working at the Mountain ...

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SORTA SESSION 2025 EDIT

What a day, every
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Spring skiing ...

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It sure is a beauty day, ay! Sunshine makes us hap ...

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Watch out! Marcs coming through!! Another video of ...

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April 8, 2016

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April 3, 2016

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April 3, 2016

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March 19, 2016

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Boyne Mountain Resort Photo Albums


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Boyne Snowmaking: Making Winter When Mother Nature Fails

Boyne Snowmaking

Sure, Mother Nature can make beautiful stuff.

She’ll wow you when you wake up to a lovely few inches of glittering flakes as rare and precious as diamonds. But Mother Nature is an unpredictable and sometimes temperamental creature. She’ll tease you and taunt you with a mid-October four inches of surprise powder that will urge you to trade your shorts and t-shirts for snow scrapers and ice melt. And then she’ll follow up with a November that feels a little more like a June, leaving you sweating in your preemptively-donned snowsuit.

But, when Mother Nature fails to provide, it is mankind that steps in.

Man, coupled with machine, tames and harnesses Mother Nature’s processes to create winter. He utilizes the same raw ingredients as Mother Nature–water, air, and energy–to produce a winter that he can rely on. After years of growing frustration with Mother Nature’s untimeliness, a tool was invented to control what no man previously could.

Invented in 1950, the snow cannon could blast a mid-February sized supply of man-made snow. Soon after, Boyne Mountain began experimenting with the snowmaking process, even patenting their own Boyne Snowmaker which was six times more energy-efficient than most systems. While other snow guns could make snow at 28°F degrees, Boyne could make snow at 30°F.

Like mathematicians correcting a difficult equation, the Boyne Mountain Snowmaking Crew has perfected the process of snowmaking over many years to reach more complex, precise and efficient capacities. Boyne recently unveiled a new and improved snow gun called the Boyne Low-E Fan, which makes better snow, is easier and less expensive to use, and makes more snow faster with little water wasted in the process. The crew starts the process with a reservoir of water which is then forced through a pipeline up the mountain. The water is allotted to a series of valves and pipes to the areas where snow is needed.

Next, the Boyne Mountain crew adds air. In the old days, Boyne added air to their snow guns with a huge, military-grade compressor, affectionately known as “Big Bertha,” that could be heard all over Boyne City. However, today the Boyne Low-E Fan Guns take air from twin screw style compressors which save energy and completes the perfect formula at a much quieter level. Now that the process is complete, the Boyne Mountain Snowmaking Crew steps back to let the magic happen. Heavy duty snow flies through the air and falls to the ground, piling up on those dainty little flakes that Mother Nature left.

While Mother Nature can gift us with unique, magical flecks that float down from the sky, she does not always supply enough to feed the hunger for hefty loads of snow that winter-lovers require. It is then that the Boyne Mountain crew steps in heroically to rescue the season. Thank you, Boyne Mountain Snowmaking Crew!

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Snowmaking at Boyne Mountain – Photos – 2018

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Saturday April 12th, 2025 - 1:41 pm

Ski Michigan

FROM Boyne Mountain Resort >> Spring riding is ON at Boyne Mountain. ☀️❄️
239 acres, 5 lifts spinning, and a freshly rebuilt park this weekend. Let's go! 🏂 #boynemountain #snowphotos #boynemountainsnow #SkiMichigan
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Thursday March 27th, 2025 - 9:06 am

Ski Michigan

FROM Boyne Mountain Resort >> Out with the kitties for a late-night purr. 🐱❄️ #boynemountain #snowphotos #boynemountainsnow #SkiMichigan ... See MoreSee Less

Wednesday March 26th, 2025 - 10:13 am

Ski Michigan

FROM Boyne Mountain Resort >> Winter said, "Hold my Oberon," and transformed spring break into a snow-lover's dream. Who needs beaches when you've got fresh tracks?! #boynemountain #snowphotos #boynemountainsnow #SkiMichigan ... See MoreSee Less

Saturday March 22nd, 2025 - 10:23 am

Ski Michigan

FROM Boyne Mountain Resort >> 245 inches of base and whispers of our snowmakers making a comeback this weekend. Spring riding never looked this good. 😎 #boynemountain #snowphotos #boynemountainsnow #SkiMichigan245 inches of base and whispers of our snowmakers making a comeback this weekend. Spring riding never looked this good. 😎 ... See MoreSee Less

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Snowmaking at Boyne Highlands – Photos – 2018

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