FLEET MANAGEMENT
The Future of Ski Hill
Vehicle Maintenance
SNOWsat delivers the right tools
By Deb Draper
SNOWsat Maintain is the latest digital tool developed
by Kässbohrer All Terrain Vehicles, Inc., designed to
assist in the efficient maintenance management of
ski area vehicle fleets.
It all started in 2011, when the company launched
SNOWsat, a proprietary digital slope and fleet management
system for its PistenBully family of ski slope, cross-country
ski and snowmobile trail maintenance equipment.
“The main driver of SNOWsat was when we were able to
figure out and implement snow depth measurement – an
important advantage when a ski area has low snow conditions,”
said John Glockhamer, marketing manager for Kässbohrer
All Terrain Vehicles, North America. “Consulting with
an operating ski area, Kässbohrer designed a GPS satellite
system that maps an area when there is no snow, and later
compares this original baseline with current snow levels to
calculate snow depths. Using a PistenBully snow groomer
equipped with SNOWsat, the operator knows exactly how
and where to groom to even out the snow depth to make for
a much better ski experience.
“At Kässbohrer we pride ourselves in our engineering and
technology and have had electronics in our PistenBully since
the late 1970s, so after the success of SNOWsat, we decided
to find other ways to use digitization to make ski area operations
more efficient. Through collaboration with our customers,
our software staff at SNOWsat has been developing code,
writing programs and advancing in snow resort technology
ever since.”
PHOTOS: KÄSSBOHRER ALL TERRAIN VEHICLES, INC.
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