I read somewhere that another skier/rider hit it and ran over it/broke it. Agree that shouldn't ever be the result or that equipment shouldn't be exposed and running on an open trail.How could both the water and air pipes break? The ones I've seen have compressed air and water mixing at the spray nozzle. I haven't seen any where they mix down at ground level, but there might be some. So, how can anyone hit a steel pipe hard enough to break it off like this? Or was the pipe old and mostly rusted away? Or plastic? The snow cannon piping should have been padded. The wayward skier probably would have crashed into the padding, got a good bang, maybe the snow cannon knocked sideways. But broken? Or a coupling knocked apart? Something was inherently wrong with the snow making apparatus. This mishap should have never happened.