WHITEHALL, Michigan — The weather along the White Lake Channel on Wednesday was cold enough that you needed to bundle up to be outside. But even though Jack Frost showed up for the holiday season, it appeared Frosty the Snowman would be skipping Christmas this time around.
But then a roaring noise filled the air behind Fetch Brewing Company in downtown Whitehall. A group of men in thick, warm coats were huddled up watching their creation unfold before their very eyes.
"We got together one night and were over drinking a beer. It was around Thanksgiving of last year and we thought, 'wouldn't it be nice to have snow on the hill for the kids between Thanksgiving at St. Paddy's Day?' And that when we came up with this idea," said Elie Ghazal.
The idea was to buy a snow machine and keep the hill covered with a fresh coat of powder even when the snow isn't falling naturally.
"We looked it up and we invested some money. We got some donations from another business around here and the whole community kind of stepped in behind us. We got enough money to buy a snowmaking machine," Ghazal said.
The White Lake Snow Farmers were born. But their first season came with some learning curves.
"Learning the wind is a big thing, and being able to play that. Then the other thing is the temperature and humidity combination," explained John Hanson.
"If your humidity is high, like 80 percent, even if it's 25 degrees, you can't make snow. Today we're under 60% humidity and it's 20 degrees. Yeah, we're gold!"
The city has allowed the Snow Farmers to hook up to their water supply. They then use a high pressure power washer and a high pressure air compressor to feed the water into a snow-making gun. Even when conditions are perfect, the process requires a lot of patience.
"We can get six inches of snow, 30 foot wide by 100 foot long, in eight hours," Hanson said.
Kids were already sledding down the hill by Wednesday afternoon. Even Mayor Steve Salter gave it a try.
"I think this is phenomenal," he said. "I love to see the kids here. I bring my grandkids here and go down the hill myself, so this is awesome."
With warmer temperatures in the forecast, Hanson expects the artificial snow to harden, but it will likely still be useable unless it starts to rain. If you can't make it out to this snow hill, the Snow Farmers will be making another one on Jan. 22 at nearby North Grove Brewers in Montague.
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