Two hundred gallons of water per minute mixed with freezing cold air shot a plume of snow 225 feet into the air at Beaver Meadow Golf Course creating a thick white base over the dormant green grass.

Throughout the next month, a machine known as a HKD Super Blizzard will be belching out snow to give the community an idea of what this equipment looks like, what it sounds like, and what it can do to transform the course into a Nordic skiing venue when the weather gets cold.

Sam Evans-Brown, a former Concord High ski coach, wrote an opinion piece for the Monitor earlier this year on the benefits of snowmaking at the course. When he coached Nordic, the team couldn’t reliably ski at the course because of inconsistent conditions, he said. 

“I wouldn’t know when we’d be able to have practice, or where we’d be able to have practice, it was always up in the air. And that was because we didn’t have a venue that had consistent, good conditions,” said Evans-Brown. “And when I looked around the state at other teams, the thing that united all the teams that had consistent, strong programs was that they all had  venues that they could ski at  and reliably as well. So that was sort of a light bulb moment for me.”

Ski the Beav, a nonprofit that was created to promote cross-country skiing at the city-owned golf course, along with the city of Concord raised enough money to  buy a machine to groom the trail s, but with fickle winters and a lack of snow, sometimes there’s nothing to groom.

With snowmaking, the trail groomer, and even lights, the course could be a reliable spot for community skiing, including the Concord High Nordic team.

The demonstration is meant to showcase the benefits of fully groomed and skiable trails in Concord even when the weather isn't perfect. Just like downhill ski resorts, when it's cold enough the snomaking machine can lay down a thick base that can stand up to rain and sun that melts natural snow.

Ski The Beav is trying to replicate the successes of two similar endeavors in the region: the Weston Ski Track at the Leo J. Martin golf course outside of Boston, and the other is the Quarry Road Trails in Waterville, Maine. 

“There are cities that are doing it. They are really successful. It’s for the competitive ski programs, it results in much better skiers because there’s a consistent place that you can go and you can get good time on snow,” Evans-Brown said. “But then also for the community it becomes a resource, you can go after work in the darkest hours of the darkest days of the year and get some exercise outdoors.”

The demo is a month-long trial, as long as the temperatures remain below freezing, that will explore the viability of different snowmaking set-ups and identify engineering estimates and modifications to the irrigation pond. They are trying to find one that would be sufficient and low-cost to cover the mile-long loop.

After the trial’s conclusion, Ski The Beav will continue to work with city staff to develop a proposed operating budget, to cover staffing, electricity, equipment, maintenance and insurance at no cost to taxpayers.

David Gill, director of Concord’s Parks and Recreation, said that the trial has worked well so far and that it would be great to get people outside to enjoy the winter.

“Going forward, assuming everybody’s happy, everything’s good, it’s probably going back to both Recreation Park Advisory Board, golf course advisory to say, ‘Hey, this is what we did. This is what we want to do next.’ And then ultimately, go to the City Council,” said Gill. “Fundraising for the equipment, I think, is going to be the easy part. I think it’s just making sure that the operations plan is set up and good, so covering the water costs and electrical costs and all that good stuff once we get to that point.”

With colder temperatures this weekend, they will continue blowing snow on the loop and proceed with the next steps to turn this trial into a permanent feature of outdoor recreation in the city.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com