Wildcat Mountain has completed what it’s touting as the “largest snowmaking upgrade in its history.”

That comes as good news to the Wildcat faithful who in 2013-14 had to contend with limited upper mountain snowmaking after a couple of pumps that funneled water to the 4,062-foot summit failed in the early part of the season.

Slower moving water and super cold temperatures made for a nasty mix and frozen pipes, hampering snowmaking operations on popular trails like Upper Lynx.

But now the mountain ops crew has installed more than 10 miles of snowmaking water and air pipe at the ski area in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

The Pinkham Notch peak across from Mount Washington in the frosty Presidential Range has purchased 227 high output, high-efficiency snow guns.

Also, the finishing touches have been put on a state-of-the-art, mid-mountain booster pump house.

More than $2 million has been invested in the snowmaking upgrades.

According to a statement from the ski area, during the 2013-14 season, Wildcat worked with some of the industry’s leading snowmaking equipment manufacturers in what is believed to be the largest testing and demonstration project ever conducted at any mountain in the East.

The 49-trail ski area with a 2,112-foot vertical drop decided to purchase snow guns from both HKD and Snow Logic.

Originally, the mountain’s owners were going to spend about $500,000 on 131 snow guns. But after the testing, they opted to up the investment by another $330,000 to take delivery of an additional 96 blazing guns for a total of more than $800,000 in new guns.

Trails looking to benefit head on from the new blasts are the 2.75-mile beginner Polecat, Lynx, Middle Wildcat, Bobcat, Wild Kitten, and Upper Catapult.

Wildcat is owned by Missouri-based Peak Resorts, which also owns New Hampshire ski areas Attitash and Crotched, Vermont’s Mount Snow, and resorts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.

As part of the original project, a new $350,000 booster pump house building facility was constructed and completed, including the installation of new diesel motors, booster pumps, a diesel filtration system, heat, electricity, and a 3,600-gallon fuel storage capacity. Excavation of a functioning work road to and from the area around the top of Middle Lynx was required to accommodate demolition of the old pump house, as well as allow access for cement trucks to build a new foundation.

“In the eyes of a Wildcat Snowmaker, working this hard all summer will certainly pay off for them this winter,” General Manager Brian Heon wrote in his blog. “Trying to keep the old, antiquated, run-down system up and going last year was painfully difficult. But just as they always do, the crew worked through it and with their hard work, and the help of Mother Nature, Wildcat was (for the 8th year in a row) the last resort to close in New Hampshire.”

Wildcat plans to start making snow “as soon as Mother Nature allows” and will open Lynx when they have a “quality product.”

From the early planning stage, the project goal was to modernize and improve the snowmaking system, which was a factor when deciding what technology to purchase.

“Today’s snowmaking technology is so impressive and we estimate Wildcat will burn 50,000 gallons less diesel fuel annually as a result of the upgrade,” Peak Resorts’ Northeast Project Manager Brendan Ryan said in the statement. “The completed project will ultimately lead to using less power and burning less fuel while producing more high-quality snow, and the new pump house will ensure snowmaking reliability on the key upper mountain trails.”

Images courtesy of Wildcat Mountain