PistenBully 100
The latest addition to the TART Vasa groomer’s arsenal of tools is the PistenBully 100. Thanks to the wonderful outpouring of community support in raising the funds to Power the PistenBully and ensure quality nordic skiing for generations. Piper the PistenBully hit the Vasa Pathway Trails during the ’23-’24 season!
The PistenBully 100 is engineered to meticulously maintain ski trails, ensuring top-notch conditions for nordic skiing. Its wide array of features includes a powerful engine that effortlessly maneuvers through various terrains and snow conditions, providing a smooth and even surface. Its adjustable blades and tillers allow our trail groomers to customize tracks according to specific snow depths, guaranteeing exceptional quality and coverage throughout the trail. This symbol of precision and reliability, plays an integral role in helping our groomers transform the Vasa Pathway into a winter wonderland for nordic skiing.
Snowmobiles
TART has three Skidoo Skandic SWT 900ace snowmobiles. These snowmobiles are the workhorses of the grooming team. They are used to pull the rollers when packing the trail in early season to build the base and during the season after heavy snowfall events. They are also used to pull the Tidd Techs, Ginzu, and compaction drag when the base is not deep enough to use the PistenBully 100. The snowmobiles are powered by fuel-efficient and low-pollution four-stroke gasoline engines.
Ginzu
The Ginzu groomers are manufactured by Yellowstone Track Systems in West Yellowstone, Montana. The model used on the Vasa Pathway is 84 inches wide and capable of setting Classic Tracks. The Ginzu also features electrically operated cutting teeth. The teeth dig deep enough under most conditions to allow us to set a new Classic track when needed. Most of the time, two snowmobiles are sent out in tandem so that the entire width of the trail can be groomed in one pass. A normal snowmobile groom on the Vasa pathway using the snowmobile and Ginzu or Tidd Tech takes about 4 1/2 to 5 hours using two snowmobiles in tandem.
Tidd Tech G2
The TART grooming equipment arsenal includes two Tidd Tech G2 groomers. These were first put in service for the 2013-14 grooming season. The Tidd Tech’s features electrically operated cutting teeth that can be lowered into the snow to chew up the existing base and lay it back down to form new corduroy for a fresh skating surface. The cutting teeth can also be used to mix any new snow with the existing base so that the new snow bonds better with the base to help build a deeper base on the trail. The G2 also features electrically operated tracksetters. One advantage of the G2 will be the ability to renovate the Classic track area deeper than the skate lane. This can be accomplished by placing optional track renovators on the cutting bar that will allow the area in front of the tracksetter to be renovated deep enough to set nice Classic Tracks while renovating the skating area only deep enough to set great corduroy. This allows the snow to set up faster in the skating lane because less snow is disturbed. The Tidd Tech can be used in a wide range of snow conditions to provide an excellent skiing surface for both skate and classic techniques. The Tidd Tech’s are an important tool to prepare the trail surface to allow the use of the PistenBully 100 by helping fill in the imperfections in the underlying trail surface that would only be amplified by using a grooming device with a 12 foot wide rigid tilling bar.
Roller
TART uses two rollers, each 6 feet wide. These rollers are essential for preparing trails in both deep snow and early light snow. When there is only a little new snow, the rollers help to form a solid base by pressing the snow down and keeping it on the trail, maximizing its effectiveness. Using other equipment too early often pushes the snow off the trail and into the woods, which isn’t helpful over time. In conditions with heavy, fresh snow, the rollers compact the snow enough to allow us to use other grooming tools afterward without risking getting stuck. The roller also helps build up the trail base and ensures that as much snow as possible stays on the trail. Occasionally, when there’s a very large snowfall, even the rollers aren’t effective. In those situations, we need to pack the trail using just the snowmobile tracks, without pulling any additional grooming equipment. Rollers feature adjustable snow comb flaps at the back, which can be raised or lowered. Lowering the flaps produces a surface with fine grooves similar to a typical ski trail, while raising them creates wider grooves. Using rollers with the flaps up is useful for packing down deep snow or gathering fresh snowfall during ongoing storms.
Compaction Drag
The compaction drag was purchased by TART at the start of the 2012-13 season. This piece of equipment was designed to cut into ice after a thaw/freeze cycle to help loosen up the top layer so that the other grooming equipment can penetrate deep enough to reset corduroy and hopefully Classic tracks. The drag is also designed to cut off the snow on the high spots on the trail and redistribute it into the low spots making the trail more enjoyable to ski on.
*All of this equipment requires annual maintenance and modifications to help create the best ski conditions possible.