Detroit Mountain, a ski resort in Detroit, has been planning ahead to keep the slopes open as long as possible. General Manager Tom Thiel credits the organization with making so much snow that it is not dependent on Mother Nature. The snow guns, which do most of the work early in the winter, are used to create the initial snow base, but later in the season they adapt to warm spells and less-than-stellar snowfall. They also use two snow groomers to push their snow around to fill in gaps. However, conditions on the slopes vary depending on which side of the hill they are on, with the front facing slopes holding snow longer.