For someone who lives in the mountains, I have known this for some time. To everyone else check it out.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~jzinman/Papers/wintertime.pdf

Maybe we all don't need as fat a ski as we think.

I'm surprised that the exaggeration is this little. As long as I can remember, people have been highly skeptical of ski area reports, which often (in the east) eliminate little details like "it's raining today" or "the upper run is open, but it's all ice".

Moapa - resorts can't say "ice" because it implies liability and, if someone were hurt, the resort would be more than likely to lose a claim against them. That's why it's called "packed powder" or "hardpack." It's BS, I know, but there's a whole allowable resort lingo and we were well coached on it as patrollers.

Great report - I scanned it quickly and look forward to reading it more in depth later. I didn't see in my brief overview the variations in snow depth from mountain base to mid-mountain to summit depth. There can be significant variation from top to bottom and thus discrepancies in reporting.

And we all knew, when I was at Winter Park, that Vail always doubled their snow fall depth for snow reports.

I can say that I personally have experience with this. The ski resort I patrol at has long claimed an annual average snowfall of over 400 inches on their website. The average since '81-'82 (as long as accurate records have been kept) is actually a little over 300'. As a patroller, on different days its my responsibility to collect and report snowfall data and what I report is often not what shows up on the website.

Called out from what?

Ya'll will still go and fight to get on that lift to get to the top and be the first down.

What ever!

Do any of you really take this to heart when the snow flies?

Most if not all, are on the road, waiting and fighting to get on the lift in order to have first tracks in all that fresh POW.

I see this " gotta get the first tracks" attitude during and after every "dump". All regardless of depth and Snow Fall report.

This report is a totally a moot point.... ya'll will still pay and get on that lift.

It's not completely a moot point.

Example: when it comes to deciding whether or not to ski Mission Ridge here in WA.

Mission Ridge: east of the crest ski resort with scant snowfall totals. Three times I skied there in my lifetime. Three times I went on the basis of their claim of X number of inches snow depth implying a covering of rocks and little trees, etc.. Three times I found myself skiing over or around rocks, mostly small ones but still large enough to gouge skis.

But, other than that, I agree with you, Chief.

The Chief wrote:Called out from what?

Ya'll will still go and fight to get on that lift to get to the top and be the first down.

What ever!

Do any of you really take this to heart when the snow flies?

Most if not all, are on the road, waiting and fighting to get on the lift in order to have first tracks in all that fresh POW.

I see this " gotta get the first tracks" attitude during and after every "dump". All regardless of depth and Snow Fall report.

This report is a totally a moot point.... ya'll will still pay and get on that lift.

All good questions, Chief, but no. I don't resort ski any more for all the above reasons you've mentioned. I did that for almost 30 years. Sadly, resorts have changed dramatically and it's no longer about the "skier experience" but about the "money the resort can rake in for the shareholders so let's do what we can to get the yahoos on the hill."

I started out as a Nordic skier and I've returned to my roots, that is, earning my turns on whatever equipment is good for the day. Thus the only reports I read are on the Colorado Avalanche webpage. Beyond that, this report simply confirms what we already know. It's kinda like payback time and there are more than a few of us out there who feel this way.

MarthaP wrote:It's BS, I know, but there's a whole allowable resort lingo and we were well coached on it as patrollers.

Now that's interesting. Where did you patrol?

It doesn't really matter how much snow they get after the slopes are covered. They could have 20ft. and you could hit a rock thats 20ft. 1 in. tall.

Gak Icenberg wrote:It doesn't really matter how much snow they get after the slopes are covered. They could have 20ft. and you could hit a rock thats 20ft. 1 in. tall.

Exactly!

Plus, 18" or 18'... does it really matter as long as you can enjoy your turns and have fun?

Give me a break.

The OP is typical American mentality.

Be grateful if ya got a Season Pass.

If ya don't, no one forces ya to drive to the resort and pay for your turns.

That's what these things are for.....

Ya Baby!!!