Snow making is a vital part of most ski resorts, allowing the ski area to stay open longer and keep their trails well kept. Man-made snow is exactly the same as natural snow, and there are no chemicals involved except in special cases. Even then the chemicals used are harmless and purely to make the snow freeze easier.

Generally speaking, water needs a nucleus to freeze onto. Without a nucleus, water needs temperatures of about -40 degrees to freeze, instead of the normal 32 degrees. Simply spraying water into the air, it is very hard for it to freeze unless the snow can fall a long distance and the temperature is very low. All snow makers, except a very specialized few, require both air and water to make snow. The air is needed for three reasons. First, the air is needed because particulates gathered in compression provide nuclei for the water to freeze on. Second, expanding air cools the water. This cooling creates almost a different climate within the plume of the snow gun. Last, the air atomizes the water making it easier to freeze. So really, all that happens in the majority of snow makers is highly compressed air in large volumes mixes with a lot of water. The air splits the water into tiny droplets, and the air then expands, cooling the water so it can freeze onto dust particles. It isn't as complex as it sounds; snow can be made at home with a simple tee pipe fitting and the correct nozzle and air compressor.

Mentioned earlier were a specialized set of snow makers that could make snow without air. They do this with very specialized nozzles that create incredibly tiny water droplets, and they add a certain harmless bacteria to the water that promotes freezing. Also, these snow guns are mounted very high in the air to give the water a lot of hang time, usually around 20 or 30 feet. Also, some snow makers are not just one air and water nozzle. There is one type, called a fan gun, which has many water only (bulk) nozzles around the rim of a fan, and a few air and water nozzles at the bottom. The fan gives the water a long hang time so the bulk water can freeze onto the already frozen part. There are also some snow makers that have a few nozzles, usually around 10, that have only water and one or two with are and water that are based around the same idea, only instead if a fan for long hang time, the bulk nozzles produce an incredibly fine mist.

Snow making helps ski areas get more business. They use a lot of energy but are not too bad on the environment, because the water used is usually drawn from a nearby pond in which the melt water from the ski area's snow runs off to. Snow making can sound complex, but in reality it is pretty simple!