Snowmaking requires and enormous amount of water, Holiday Valley’s system can transform up to 8000 gallons per minute into snow.  Water, therefore, is in very high demand.  At the top of nearly every mountain whose business depends on snowmaking, lies an enormous reservoir.  The expanded snowmaking system has led Holiday Valley to build a new crater-like lake with tall sides and a perfectly flat bottom to meet the demands of its sophisticated system.  Walking up to Spruce Lake for the first time in the early winter, the machine trail was scored with deep tire treads and strewn with bulldozers, hunkered deep in the mud.  The crater’s sides were so steep that we bent forward and grabbed tall grasses to help us to its lip.  The lake was empty and black, so deep I couldn’t see the bottom.  Crunching across the silvery grass, we tried to make out the other side, except for a stand of trees in the distance, it was impossible to tell how far it was to the other side.  Our dog sat down between us and chewed at his snow-clotted feet.  A mile behind us in the valley, a faint glow rose above the town.