April 25, 2025 - The 2025 CCSAA Annual Conference was hosted by Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. The 3-day Conference began with snowmaking and grooming workshops and socials followed by presentations, breakouts and a vendor expo.

The Annual Conference is an incredible opportunity for owners, operators, and suppliers from across North America to connect, learn, and share knowledge.

Attendees benefit from engaging educational sessions, live grooming demonstrations, and vibrant social events.  Networking remains a cornerstone of CCSAA conferences, and this year’s event was no exception—offering exceptional value.

Snowmaking and Grooming Workshops
The snowmaking workshop kicked off with a discussion of the Soldier Hollow  snowmaking system.  Ben Siefert from HKD and Bill Pierce from Soldier Hollow shared some of the history of the existing snowmaking system from the 2002 Olympics and design changes for the upcoming 2034 Olympics.

A group of almost 80 attendees toured the snowmaking pumphouse, the compressor infrastructure and the existing snowmaking pond as well as discussing gun variations and placements.

Bill also reminded everyone that a system such as Soldier Hollow’s is not always needed.  Many ski areas have started their snowmaking journey by leasing a single fan gun and learning the process before making a larger commitment.  Contact your snowmaking rep or visit the snowmaking contact page here!

The grooming workshop again began with Bill discussing the important aspects of grooming.  Key points included not only tiller settings, but blade use, time of grooming, and how to communicate to your customers.

The group then went to the snow where one each of the machines present showed their blading skills while attendees broke into smaller discussion groups.

Topics included key subjects that every groomer deals with including blading, snow pushing, track setting, grooming intersections, and much more.   There were several key takeaways from the discussion, but possibly the most important was knowing your machine and understanding that grooming is not a set and forget proposition.  A good operator is making machine adjustments all the time to deal with the different conditions.

Full conference recap here.