BOISE (AP) - The ideal time to get out the snow guns is when the "wet bulb" reads 26 degrees or lower.

Snow guns use compressed air to atomize water into tiny particles and propel it into the air. When the temperature and humidity are just right - that is what the wet bulb measures - the water crystallizes into snow before it reaches the ground.

The rest of the Treasure Valley might be snowless, but venture to the Eagle Sports Complex off Horseshoe Bend Road and you will find a hillside blanketed in a 2- to 3-foot layer - and dozens of kids on skis and snowboards riding rails and hitting jumps.

Ryan Neptune and his Gateway Parks crew used three snow guns - or snow cannons, which modern snow machines sort of resemble - to create the urban snow park, which opened Nov. 22. Each night they keep checking the wet bulb, waiting for the right conditions to dump more snow on the hillside and add more features.

"We plan to go all the way to the top of the hill and add a half-pipe," Neptune said.

NOT A TYPICAL PARK

Stand in the Eagle Sports Complex parking lot and look around. You'll likely see BMX and mountain bikers, skateboarders, skiers, snowboarders, tubers and people walking their dogs.

"It is the raddest park," said Neptune. "I love it there. I love the crowd."

The 267-acre regional park includes a skateboard park, a BMX course, and mountain bike and hiking trails.

The park's newest amenity is the tubing hill and terrain park, featuring rails, jumps, slides and, soon, the half-pipe - a U-shaped run for snowboarders and skiers.

Under a 20-year contract with the city, Neptune purchases, installs and operates the terrain park equipment. The city gets 10 percent of all lift-ticket sales. Tickets cost $15.

On Thursday, Neptune gave the city its first check - $1,632 for the first week of operation, which means about $16,000 in ticket and season pass sales so far.

In addition to providing the city with income to use for maintenance and improvements at its other parks, and an after-school activity for kids, the project will introduce a new generation to winter sports, Eagle Mayor Jim Reynolds said. That will benefit Bogus Basin and other area ski resorts, he said.

SKIS VS. TUBES

Neptune expected tubing to be the big draw when the park opened. The youngsters have proved him wrong.

"I thought it was going to be a tubing fest with some skiing, but it is a skiing fest with a little bit of tubing," he said.

To encourage kids of all ages to try something new, Gateway Parks offers first-time visitors free ski and snowboard rental. Neptune's goal is to make snow sports more accessible by offering easy-going and family-friendly venues where visitors can learn the basics and hone their skills. Gateway also operates a snow park in Rockford, Ill.

The park's location in the center of the Valley makes it easy for kids to drop in for an hour or two after school or while parents run weekend errands. Parents often gather around the fire pit while their kids cavort in the snow, Neptune said. Some kids walk over from the adjacent neighborhood carrying their skis and boards. Others come from beyond Eagle.

"I saw license plates from all over the Valley in the parking lot," said Eagle City Councilwoman Mary McFarland, who has made several trips to the park to watch the kids and take a few runs down the tubing hill.

"You cannot tube without laughing," she said.

SNOW DELAY

A rift between the city of Eagle and Ada County delayed the snow park for a year.

For more than a decade, the city has had a 99-year, no-cost lease to improve and operate the regional park, which is owned by the county. In 2013 a dispute arose between the two agencies when the city entered an agreement with Gateway Parks to build the snow park. The county said it wasn't allowed under the lease agreement.

To resolve the dispute, the county agreed to sell some of the park to the city. After months of meetings, negotiations and paperwork, Eagle finally closed in May on a purchase of 48.83 acres for $172,190.50. The city now owns and manages the skatepark, BMX course and snow parks areas. Ada County owns and manages the remaining 218 acres of open space.

Reynolds said the dust-up is in the past and the city and county are "good friends again." He checked out the snow park and called it "worth the wait."

EAGLE ISLAND STATE PARK

Last winter, while waiting for Eagle and Ada County to work through their issues, Gateway Parks and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation agreed to put a snow park at Eagle Island State Park off Linder Road. The park proved successful. During the two months the park was open, the state reported a 200 percent increase in visitors and parking fees over the previous year. The state received $2,065.16, 5 percent of the snow park's receipts.

It "enticed new customers" and boosted park visitation in January and February, typically low-visitation months, Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Jennifer Okerlund said

Pleased with the pilot project, the state in February signed a 10-year contract with Neptune.

Neptune initially planned to open snow parks in both locations this winter, but now he is focusing on the Eagle Sports Complex project, he said.

If public demand warrants it and the weather cooperates, Neptune said, he might put in a tubing hill at Eagle Island during the two-week Christmas break.