Here at Rocky Mountain Snow Guards, we’ve learned a lot about snow guards over the last 12 years. We’ve taken this knowledge and applied it to our newest snow guard series - the Yeti Snow Guard. Here’s our snow guard history:
2010 – After representing another snow guard manufacturer for years, Lars Walberg opens Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. He obtained the rights to sell the SnowTrapper (ST) series snow guards.
The ST is the original, patented, half-round snow guard. The popular ST style has become the standard for snow guards across much of the US and Canada. Its success is because the half-round profile and triangular gusset are strong and visually pleasing. It’s relatively small so it is unobtrusive and complimentary to most roofing products. ST snow guards are load tested and achieve loads more than 500 pounds each.
2015 – Recognizing the need for a stronger, larger snow guard to accommodate the more demanding snow loads at ski areas in the west, RMSG introduces the Rocky Guard (RG) series snow guards.
The RG is larger than the ST and achieves load ratings of more than 1,200 pounds. The RG snow guard holds up beautifully on roofs that are regularly shoveled to remove excess snow. (Snow removal is damaging to most snow guard styles). The RG series was an instant success in the Western US where a triangular style snow guard is common, but it achieved limited success in the Eastern US where the half-round style is preferred.
2021 – RMSG introduces the Yeti series of snow guards. The Yeti series combines greater strength and larger pad area like the RG with the half-round style of the ST. The Yeti pad face area (the vertical part of the snow guard that holds snow) is almost twice the pad face area of the ST snow guard and slightly less than the RG. In addition, Yeti snow guards feature a flange around the pad face to hold snow in place so it can’t slide side to side. With the flange included, the face area of the Yeti is more than 5 square inches.
The amazing thing about the Yeti is that it doesn’t look much bigger than the ST on the roof. That’s the beauty of the half-round design. It’s surprisingly unobtrusive. Another great thing about the Yeti is that we manufacture it with painted aluminum that is 25% thicker than the ST snow guard. The .040” thick aluminum combined with the sturdy gusseted half round design combine for a load rating in excess of 800 pounds.
ST-Yeti-RG Snow Guard Comparison on Asphalt Shingles.