With snowfall sparse throughout much of Southcentral, a legion of snowmaking machines are humming around the clock at three ski and snowboarding areas to produce what Mother Nature has failed to deliver this winter.

All told, dozens of machines are converting millions of gallons of water into snow while operators pray that temperatures remain no warmer than the low 20s or, better yet, snow finally falls over Thanksgiving weekend.

Hilltop Ski Area in south Anchorage will be the first area to open, welcoming skiers 3-8 p.m. Wednesday. Alyeska Ski Resort plans to follow on Thursday, and limited cross-country skiing on a 1.5-kilometer loop at Kincaid Park should be available before long too.

"We've been making snow since Tuesday of last week," said Steve Remme, the CEO of Hilltop Ski Area. "Nonstop — 24 hours a day."

As a result, Hilltop's Caribou run will be the first to open to skiers this winter. Remme said there's 6-10 inches of man-made snow on the hill that he and his crew have been grooming.

40,000 gallons an hour

Hilltop's seven snow guns, made by the Michigan company SMI (Snow Machines Inc.), were installed in 1984. Depending on the outdoor temperature, the guns can convert up to 40,000 gallons an hour from South Fork Campbell Creek into man-made snow.

Because the guns are on wheels and hooked up to 40 hydrants at Hilltop, they can be moved around the mountain, Remme said. They're most effective when the air temperature is 0 to 18 degrees F, he added.

Nobody would call man-made snow powder. Instead of flakes, what's produced is "small and granular like hail – super-small hail," Remme said. "But once you have a snow cat go over it with a tiller, you really can't tell the difference."

At Kincaid, 18 fixed-tube snow guns on the trails can be rotated but not moved; another nine snow guns are available for use in the stadium area.

Since Wednesday, the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage (NSAA) has used more than a half-million gallons of water from two Kincaid wells to make snow, but forecasts calling for warmer weather at the end of the week may scuttle those efforts.

"It needs to be 22 degrees or colder," said Mike Miller of NSAA. "Otherwise, you're just pumping water."

The immediate goal is to produce enough snow to cover a 1.5-kilometer trail through the main stadium and the biathlon loop. "If it snowed," Miller said, "that would help tremendously."

But on Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service forecasts didn't mention snow until Friday and, even then, also used the words "chance" and "showers."

The snow guns produce a pile of snow. "Then we let it set for a while and break up the pile with our PistenBully snowcat, then let it set and go back in.

"We still need to have another 200 meters of snowy trail in the stadium."

‘Soft opening’ at Alyeska

Alaska's biggest ski area, Alyeska Resort, will offer what marketing manager Ben Napolitano described as "kind of a soft opening" on Thursday. Only Ted's Express and the Bear Cub Quad will be open.

"Mostly beginner and some intermediate terrain," Napolitano said. "Skiing at Alyeska on Thanksgiving is always tricky. You'll be able to make a few turns but nothing crazy."

Only 113 of Alyeska's 1,610 skiable acres have snowmaking capacity. But a snow-starved start to the snowboarding and skiing season can turn around quickly. That happened a year ago, when 824 inches (nearly 69 feet) of snow fell by the end of the season atop Mount Alyeska, 155 inches more than the mountain's 34-year average.

On Monday, though, despite 5 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, only 21 inches sat atop the Glacier Bowl Express.

Arctic Valley, the ski area just north of town, purchased a $30,000 snow gun to spray snow for use in the area's tubing park. But until Anchorage receives significant snowfall, Arctic Valley will remain closed.

It would be easy for Southcentral boarders and skiers to feel sorry for themselves. Anchorage has seen only 3.4 inches of snow (mostly melted) so far this season, well short of the 16.7-inch average by this date or last year's 19.6 inches.