Greg Hunton has been driving a snow groomer at Sunday River for 25 years, so he knows his way around the sprawling ski resort in Newry.
As he pilots the tracked machine up a steep hill on Barker Mountain just before sundown, Hunton directs the front blades to collect loose snow from a full day of skiing. The snow is fed through a back tiller, leaving a glistening layer patterned like corduroy.
"I need to know the depth of everything and where to put the snow, where to cover the rocks and dirt, basically," Hunton said.
This year, Hunton has a new tool to make that job easier. The tracked machine is outfitted with Light Detection and Ranging — or LiDAR. The equipment uses invisible lasers to scan the trail and measure snow depth in front and to the sides of Hunton's cat. The data is displayed on a digital map right next to his joystick.
It's part of new investments the mountain is making to increase snowmaking efficiency and use less water and energy. As a warming climate makes New England winters less cold and snowy, snowmaking has become an essential tool to give skiers the amount of snow they expect on the slopes.
"I's kind of like a depth finder on a boat, that's what I'd liken it to," Hunton said. "It just helps, because I can see what's under the snow."
But while Hunton is using the system to dodge rocks, the resort is using it to fine-tune distribution of snow all over the mountain.
"Not only does it allow us to make the correct amount of snow on every run, but from a grooming standpoint it allows me to manage the snow," said Nathan Brown — or "Brownie" — Sunday River's grooming manager.
Down in the resort's operations center, a screen displays snow depth data from the cat on ski trails all over the mountain. Depth is shown in vivid color — blue for deep pockets of snow, green and red for thinner areas.
"Our goal is to spread the stuff out, take the blue, move it to the red or the lighter greens, and try to keep an even snow surface," Brownie said.
Last year, Sunday River used aircraft equipped with LiDAR to map out the topography of the mountain, almost down to the inch.
Now when the two LiDAR-equipped cats go out, their scans show the difference between the trail surface and the base map, thereby giving the snow depth.
Brownie said the resort is still learning the capabilities of the system, but snowmaking is where it will really stand out.
Sunday River has invested heavily in snowmaking and in ways to reduce the amount of energy and water needed for their snowflake factories.
Brownie said real-time information provided by the cats can increase those efficiencies. Instead of blowing snow all over the mountain, the data can show operators precisely where, and when on the trails they should target snow guns.
"Maybe you don't have to make snow on the whole run," Brownie said.
"The snow maker can look at that and go down and see the areas that still need snow. Maybe instead of the whole run, maybe you turn on four or five guns where you actually need the snow," he added.
Brownie and others acknowledge winters are different now from the cold, snowy seasons known in the past.
Sunday River has committed to a sustainability "Forever Project" to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, reduce waste, and improve efficiencies.
"We have the pleasure to be able to make as much snow as we do here, as quick as we do and the the first to open in the East Coast," said sustainability manager Joe Pezzolesi.
Sunday River's parent company Boyne Resorts is rolling out technology like LiDAR, real-time fuel maintenance and remotely operated snow guns across the 10 ski mountains it owns. Alongside Sunday River, Boyne owns Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton and Loon Mountain in Lincoln, New Hampshire.
"Anytime you can increase efficiency and decrease overuse of resources, that is sustainability," said Mike Unruh, Boyne's Senior Vice President of Operations.
It's also important to give customers the best experience as winters become warmer and less consistent, Unruh added.
"That is why we are investing so much money in snowmaking to make more snow and make it more efficiently and more cost effectively," Unruh said.
Embracing new technology such as LiDAR is a good example of the steps ski resorts are taking to adapt to changing winters, said Alix Contosta, an environmental studies professor at the University of New Hampshire.
But Contosta said there are limits — if temperatures are too warm, resorts can't make snow. New England has already lost about two weeks of weather suitable for snowmaking, Contosta said, and that trend is expected to continue even if society is able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
"We're not going back to the cold, snowy winters we had historically anytime soon," Contosta said.
"But we can try to advocate for policy that puts us more into a low emissions scenario where we lose some winter but we are also able to keep some," Contosta added.
