Yesterday was a good one for Jodie McCutcheon.

With the significant snowfall workers were finally able to start molding Mt. Sima.

"We woke up this morning and we were blessed with some snow,” said McCutcheon, outdoor operations manager and acting general manager for Mt. Sima after Guillaume Rochet returned to Europe for a job. "We got about 15 centimetres of fresh snow up at the hill here, and we'd already had some snow.”

McCutcheon took to the Snowcat to groom trails for the day after waking to what looked like enough snow to do the job.

Not a bad job, either.

"Any day I can get into a Snowcat and get out of the office is a good day, I'm not going to lie to anybody,” he said, laughing. "I'm a lot happier when it's snowing than I am when it's not snowing…it makes for an exciting day for everybody that works here.”

The Snowcat lumbered up the steeps as McCutcheon explained over the drone what needed to be done to whip the mountain into shape before the upcoming season.

He called it track-backing.

The machine packs the light snow to the run before it blows away, so the next snowfall bonds well with the packed snow.

"You can feel it's pretty jerky right now so we're probably at a minimum down here in this area,” McCutcheon said. "We're concentrating our efforts up higher, where there's more snow, obviously.”

He was also wind-rowing, as he called it, windy areas of the hill, where the Snowcat leaves a column of snow standing along each side of the run. When the wind comes and blows snow around, off the trees, the columns will capture the snow on the runs. The following day, he and the Snowcat return to pack the fresh snow.

"Kind of like snow farming, if you will,” McCutcheon said.

While just in his second year with Mt. Sima, McCutcheon gained vast experience while working for Whistler-Blackcomb for 15 years in his native British Columbia, when he was "a lot younger,” he said, and went through a progression where he skied 130 days a year and only work nights. "And snowmaking was one of those jobs where you could work nights,” he laughed.

"I had a great run there and learned a lot in a short period of time…Snowmaking is a science.”

In 2008, at the end of his tenure with the world-famous resort, Whistler-Blackcomb operated 269 total snow guns, pumped more water to make more snow than anywhere in the world, with budgets that run in the millions of dollars, he said.

"It's completely different (here),” he said.

"Here is not without its challenges; out there, they have their own unique set of challenges as well.”

Upon arriving to Whitehorse last fall, Mt. Sima had two snow guns in operation which could be dated back to the 1980s, he said.

"It's a little bit different this year,” he said.

"Really it's a completely different weather pattern. Last year, we got probably most of our snow for the whole winter in early October; then again, we took advantage of that last year, we did the exact same thing as we're doing today here.”

This season, Mt. Sima has enlisted the help of six newer snow guns – Standard PoleCats – from U.S.-based SMI snowmakers.

"We graciously have some new equipment coming this year for snowmaking that will, in a sense, change how we do things here,” McCutcheon said.

"It's going to make the skiing experience a lot better, it's going to enable us to concentrate firepower with snowmaking in different areas of the runs than we've been able to do before. It's going to enable us to make snow at a lot warmer temperatures, and then we're going to be able to maximize our usage of water.”

The new guns allow for a wider range of snowmaking options for different applications, he explained.

If the mountain wants to secure a run to get it open, for instance, the guns are capable of making wetter, base-orientated snow, dressed up with fine, "Talcum-powder type” snow on top, he added.

"You're making a call on a whole lot of different parameters, the weather, what you're trying to achieve, what kind of a year it is, what your goals are for that night,” he said.

Mt. Sima is preparing for a big season, particularly as Whitehorse prepares to host the 2012 Arctic Winter Games.

Besides, snowmaking is becoming a trend for a lot of resorts, he said, in order to open the season earlier and close it later, as well as improve upon terrain parks.

"We're not making slush or slurry or ice; we're making a product that will be very fun to ski on,” he said. "A better product for the customer and the community to ski on is what we're aiming for.”

Part of that better product includes features other than better snow.

Mt. Sima will hold a fund-raiser Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Yukon Arts Centre, featuring the Warren Miller film Wintervention.

Tickets are available at SportsLife and Board Stiff in the Hougen Centre, and cost $18 in advance and $20 at the door.

Mt. Sima will offer a Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance Level 1 instructor course from Dec. 16-19 at a cost of $375 plus GST (lift ticket included). Those interested can register online at http://www.snowprobc.com/level-one-schedule.

The mountain will also offer ski/board camps for ages four-13-years-old starting Dec. 20 starting at $99. For availabilities and bookings, contact Sima Snow School at 668-4557 ext. 2 or e-mail snowschool@mountsima.com.

Early bird season passes are available for purchase at Sportslife in the Hougen Centre until Nov. 20.

So when does the season start?

"Weather permitting – I hate getting cornered into a day – but if everything goes well and we continue to get some good snow…we'll try to open Dec. 4.”