The Man Who Made Snow
He pioneered snowmaking. In 1960 he installed the first snowmaking system and double chair at Seven Springs Resort, the ski area his German immigrant parents founded in Pennsylvania. From there, he launched HKD, the company resorts around the country rely on for snowmaking.
And this week, snowsports lost the man who made so many seasons possible: Herman Dupre, 87..
Dupre founded HKD in 1973 and would go on to register 34 patents for HKD snowmaking system and created the Backyard Blizzard home system in the winter of 2000.
In 1990, HKD introduced the standard tower snow gun that was the first of many low energy products that Dupre and his son in law, Charles Santry and his daughter Ani would bring to ski areas.
Listen to current HKD president Charles Santry’s tribute to his father-in-law, Herman Dupre, from a few years back.
