Interest from the Alps
At the same time, Mt Buller in the Victorian Alps, was showing an interest. After making some modifications he took a unit to the mountain and proceeded to shift existing snow from the side of major slopes onto the runs. This was a major advance but, when he was asked if it could pump snow from the top to the bottom of the Bourke Street run, John Melbourne balked. “What you should be looking at is a more efficient snow making machine,” he said.
Mt. Buller’s Ski Enterprise manager, Michael Monestar, gave him a set of criteria for a machine that could convert 120 litres of water a minute into dry powder snow with the outside temperature at or above 0°C. “I accepted the challenge, without even knowing what the machine should be like,” he said.
In the conversion process of water to snow, John Melbourne’s machine uses a vacuum to suck in cold air, rather that using hot air drawn in by fans. “Most snow making machines are fan-driven and all are imported. They only work when the temperature gets down to -3°C and they are very noisy.” Recently announced EPA requirements on noise levels would see them phased out over three years.
“There are significant opportunities locally in terms of import replacement, but quite clearly major opportunities lie in the export market.” He pointed to the interest of Japan and parts of Europe and the USA in constructing major indoor ski-runs.
“When we started out, we were told that you couldn’t make snow in the middle of the day, you couldn’t make it above -2°C and you couldn’t make it when it was snowing. In my opinion that was a lot of bull.”
While John Melbourne is pleased with the results to date of his snow making machine, he is not one to remain complacent. “You have to recognise that improvements can always be made and that research and development are critical factors in bringing a product onto a market.” He backs his belief by investing a larger than normal proportion of sales revenue in R & D. It’s the best investment I make and I’ll continue to spend heavily in that area.”
John Melbourne was assisted by a grant from the Department of Manufacturing and Industry Development when establishing his business. “That sort of help was greatly appreciated and what I’m aiming at is repaying a debt of gratitude by developing a new import replacement and export orientated industry within Victoria.”

SNOW MAKER
In April 1991 we applied for a patent - No 625655 NZ 234668 USA 5322218 - for a snow making device.
MELBOURNE SNOW MAKER AUST. PATENT No. 625655
The Melbourne snow making device is an effective way of making snow using air and water without additives at temperatures up to 10°C.
The Melbourne snow maker is simply an air mover because of the bell entry and a modified Hydro Levitator. Snow is basically a mixture of air and water. Due to the venturi vortex action on a 150mm unit we suck in 21 times the amount of air we supply to the unit.
Through a tangential inlet port, cold air under pressure (the higher the better 700-1400kPa) is fed into a manifold from where it exits via a ring of venturi holes drilled at compound angles similar to the air pump.The air expands rapidly and we get a temperature drop and hence very cold air.
Through a tangential inlet port mounted above the air nozzle (and for balance on the other side), water at the same pressure and not too cold (15°C is the ideal temp) is fed into a manifold from where it exits onto a deflector ring which flattens and is directed into a very cold air stream. As the air expands, and with the vortex action from the air nozzle, the flattened water mixes with the very cold air stream. As it falls it forms snow crystals. To make light fluffy snow you need to make dendritic crystals.