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This quote showed up in our break room two nights ago and I thought it might be fodder for spurring thoughts from you all on this forum.

"the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of acreage is forgotten"

Many of us are self styled perfectionists when it comes to snow surfaces. We endeavor with multiple passes or deep and fast tiller settings to get near perfect corduroy and a durable, lasting subsurface. But then by mid-day it is all skied off, bumped up, and we're back warming up the diesels to do it all over again. The resorts invest a tremendous amount of capital and we operators invest our sweat equity and brain strain to ensure the product each and every day.

I am just opening the topic for discussion, not claiming any particular point of view...

cbender wrote:This quote showed up in our break room two nights ago and I thought it might be fodder for spurring thoughts from you all on this forum.

"the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of acreage is forgotten"

Many of us are self styled perfectionists when it comes to snow surfaces. We endeavor with multiple passes or deep and fast tiller settings to get near perfect corduroy and a durable, lasting subsurface. But then by mid-day it is all skied off, bumped up, and we're back warming up the diesels to do it all over again. The resorts invest a tremendous amount of capital and we operators invest our sweat equity and brain strain to ensure the product each and every day.

I am just opening the topic for discussion, not claiming any particular point of view...

You've got my attention.
Have dealt with this for many years.
Your most popular trails quality, (beginner and intermediate trails) the rest quanity until you have time to work on them.
"

We endeavor with multiple passes or deep and fast tiller settings to get near perfect corduroy and a durable, lasting subsurface. "

When over compacted it's either blade the snot out of it and reset. Which takes time with a tractor. Hoping you have the snow depths to do this.
This is one that has bugged me the most is over compacting the subsurface.
Other techniques out there to overcome this that most resorts will not entertain there use for trail grooming. Snow farming is what we use to call it. It's a technique that has been lost with most areas just rely on Tilers and blade for trail grooming.

Regarding sub-surface compaction, the operators at Crested Butte have been using tow behind "Western Mountain Tillers" for years to undo some of this in highly compacted trails. I think they got the idea from Okemo. The device is basically a spined disc harrow and out performs the renovators.