Snow grooming

A snow groomer (informally called a "piste basher" in the United Kingdom)[3][4] is a tracked vehicle equipped in front with a shovel (or dozer blade) and behind with a cutter (or roller).

Snow groomers built for ski slopes employ front mounted, hydraulically operated blades, powered rotary tillers and specialized shaping equipment for not only maintaining ski slopes, but also for building half pipes, terrain parks and snow tube parks.

Snow groomers can handle very steep gradients due to their low centre of gravity and large contact area, but they can also be assisted by winches.

Using cable lengths of up to 1,200 metres and a tractive force of up to 4.8 tonnes, winches can support the machines on steep slopes.

[12] Due to their mobility and low ground pressure (typically 0.040 to 0.060 kg/cm2 (about 4 to 6 kN/m2) snow groomers are sometimes used elsewhere, e.g. for agricultural purposes, moving bulk goods, working on peat bogs or at biogas sites.

[19] In 2016, CRREL researchers perfected field preparation practices that allow for use of heavy military transport and other wheeled aircraft on snow runways in Antarctica.