"Our business has moved to 40 percent snow guards, 30 percent snow bars and 30 percent snow fences," says Lars Walberg, president of Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. "We've discovered that mix has changed over the last few years more toward snow bars and snow fences."

"As metal roofing, especially standing seam metal roofs, has grown in popularity, snow bars and snow fences have matched that growth. These are successful snow retention systems for the slick nature of metal roofs."

Meeting Roofing Marketplace Needs

Walberg relates that the company's most effective and economical snow bar product is the S-5!® ColorGard bar. The bar attaches to the roof and the design allows for an optional metal color strip to be slid into the face of the bar to complement the roof color. This system works especially well on metal roofs.

The biggest selling snow fence at RMSG is the Blizzard II.  The clamp-to-seam 2-pipe bracket arrives fully assembled, making it easy for a contractor to attach the piece to the vertical seams and insert the tubing.  These two products have seen especially strong growth the past several years.

In addition, the best-selling snow guards historically for the company are the Rocky Guard RG16 and RG10.  Both are used with composite roofing shingles like the composite shake and slate tiles manufactured by DaVinci Roofscapes. Because snow has a tendency to accumulate and then avalanche off the surface of smooth composite roofs, the snow guards help keep the snow on the roofs and let it melt off.

Copper Sales on the Increase

While the majority of our snow retention system sales are in aluminum and steel products, we've seen a growth in specialty orders in copper.  High-end properties in resort areas are requesting copper snow retention systems to accent their copper roofs or a roof with copper flashings.

 "We sold a larger order of copper Yeti snow guards to a retreat in Iceland last year," says Walberg. "There's also copper SnowTrappers and a copper Drift III 3-pipe snow fence on a project in Beaver Creek.  These are high-budget projects where the copper accents are perfect for the beautiful copper roofs."

For us, the most popular-selling copper snow guard is the SnowTrapper.  The pricing is 20 percent less than similar copper snow guards in the marketplace, making them an attractive option.

"There appears to be a movement toward copper as a roofing accent," says Walberg. "In many cases a total roof, in high-end projects, will be made of copper.  Fortunately, most products we offer have a copper option. This gives homeowners and contractors the opportunity to have snow guard and fence-style systems available for their snow retention needs in aluminum, steel or copper."