North Carolina’s Sugar Mountain Resort is hoping that its 5,300-foot elevation will bring plenty of natural snow this winter. But to hedge its bets, the resort has invested a quarter million dollars in snowmaking improvements.

Eight fully-automated SMI and Techno Alpin snow machines have been added to Sugar Mountain’s slopes, continuing a multi-year effort to upgrade its snowmaking system.

“As weather varies throughout the season, upgrades every year including the addition of snowmaking machines allow for higher energy efficiency and provide better and more consistent slope conditions,” noted Gunther Jochl, President of the resort. “The quality of our product is critical,” he added.