Truth in snow reporting, examples

[Sibhusky]

Here's today at Whitefish. Read from bottom to top:

Deep thoughts by Pat*:
12:30 PM:
We are closing most of the front side. Groomed runs are extremely firm today, it is hard to even stop. Ski carefully and only ski open terrain. Russ’ street is the route that will be open to the bottom.

12:00 PM:
Chair 1 is about to open. The snow today is a rime ice crust. The conditions demand careful skiing on groomed trails only. Off trail is not recommended. Like not even a little bit, stay on groomed runs. Terrain lower on the mountain is warming up and skiing better than higher up. Some areas of the mountain may be closed today, please respect the rope.

9:40 AM:
We still really can’t say how long it will take to get chair 1 open, but at least another hour or two before opening. There is rime and black ice on every chair that needs to be removed. Lower mountain is all rolling. The skiing is variable, stick to groomers.

8:40 AM:
Chair 2 along with 3, 6, and 9 are going to open at 9:00 as scheduled. Chair 1 is going to be delayed and it is our priority. Chair 7 will have to be de rimed next. Still no time frame, stay posted.

7:40 AM:
Chair 1 is going to be delayed opening this morning due to a thick layer of rime ice. Mechanics are clearing the rime chair by chair. It is impossible to put a time frame on it at this time, we will keep you updated on our progress. Fixed grip chairs should be rolling on time this morning. That is Chairs 3, 6, 9, and The Magic Carpet, which will open at 9:00 am. Chair 2 may also be delayed as all mechanics are working on Chair 1 right now.

6:00 AM Report:
Good Morning Skiers and Snowboarders! Today is March 1st and welcome to the Whitefish Snow Report. The primary weather starting yesterday afternoon, and continuing now, is a hard rime. It is a freezing mist that is creating a layer of white frost mountain wide. The forecast is calling for the clouds to steadily move out today, with partly sunny skies moving in. Visibility will improve with the clear out and the high temperature will be near 27 degrees. It is a typical "you need to be prepared for all kinds of weather" day.
Primary snow conditions today are groomed terrain and variable snow. You can always count on Whitefish's groomed runs to be skiing great and deliver the goods. Check out the grooming report below or on Summit electronic info boards. Off-piste, expect a rime crust on top of a lot of soft snow. Plan on staying on-piste until you feel it out.
Yesterday, some people had goggle scrapers to clear their goggles, others used their pass, while others just ditched their goggles all together. Tricky weather, but the mountain is skiing great and the movement and freedom of skiing is pure bliss. Please drive and ski safely. Have a great day today, we'll see you out there!

 

[Jersey Skier]

And this is what I just read on Hunter (epic) Facebook page.



Any idea on trail conditions Wednesday

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• I’m convinced you’ll never get actual trail conditions out of the folks at Hunter.

 

[scott43]

So you're skiing Whiteface Moutain on a good day today...

 

[David Chaus]

Here's today at Whitefish. Read from bottom to top:

Deep thoughts by Pat*:
12:30 PM:
We are closing most of the front side. Groomed runs are extremely firm today, it is hard to even stop. Ski carefully and only ski open terrain. Russ’ street is the route that will be open to the bottom.

12:00 PM:
Chair 1 is about to open. The snow today is a rime ice crust. The conditions demand careful skiing on groomed trails only. Off trail is not recommended. Like not even a little bit, stay on groomed runs. Terrain lower on the mountain is warming up and skiing better than higher up. Some areas of the mountain may be closed today, please respect the rope.

9:40 AM:
We still really can’t say how long it will take to get chair 1 open, but at least another hour or two before opening. There is rime and black ice on every chair that needs to be removed. Lower mountain is all rolling. The skiing is variable, stick to groomers.

8:40 AM:
Chair 2 along with 3, 6, and 9 are going to open at 9:00 as scheduled. Chair 1 is going to be delayed and it is our priority. Chair 7 will have to be de rimed next. Still no time frame, stay posted.

7:40 AM:
Chair 1 is going to be delayed opening this morning due to a thick layer of rime ice. Mechanics are clearing the rime chair by chair. It is impossible to put a time frame on it at this time, we will keep you updated on our progress. Fixed grip chairs should be rolling on time this morning. That is Chairs 3, 6, 9, and The Magic Carpet, which will open at 9:00 am. Chair 2 may also be delayed as all mechanics are working on Chair 1 right now.

6:00 AM Report:
Good Morning Skiers and Snowboarders! Today is March 1st and welcome to the Whitefish Snow Report. The primary weather starting yesterday afternoon, and continuing now, is a hard rime. It is a freezing mist that is creating a layer of white frost mountain wide. The forecast is calling for the clouds to steadily move out today, with partly sunny skies moving in. Visibility will improve with the clear out and the high temperature will be near 27 degrees. It is a typical "you need to be prepared for all kinds of weather" day.
Primary snow conditions today are groomed terrain and variable snow. You can always count on Whitefish's groomed runs to be skiing great and deliver the goods. Check out the grooming report below or on Summit electronic info boards. Off-piste, expect a rime crust on top of a lot of soft snow. Plan on staying on-piste until you feel it out.
Yesterday, some people had goggle scrapers to clear their goggles, others used their pass, while others just ditched their goggles all together. Tricky weather, but the mountain is skiing great and the movement and freedom of skiing is pure bliss. Please drive and ski safely. Have a great day today, we'll see you out there!

So to summarize: packed powder.

 

[Sibhusky]

I especially like the juxtaposition of

"You can always count on Whitefish's groomed runs to be skiing great and deliver the goods" in the first report,

with "We are closing most of the front side. Groomed runs are extremely firm today, it is hard to even stop." in the later report.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

I liked the time that Mad River Glen described their own mountain as “frozen hellscape”.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

I read the whitefish snowreport everyday, just got to make sure my BS googles are on. Its an advertisement first, truthful information a distant second.

That rime yesterday was no joke, even for us. I got up there at 1230 today just about when they turned 1 on, but line was long so i did 2 laps on 2. I then noticed 1 had no line so I headed up to find the frontside was closed?? It was icy, but Im not sure about too icy to ski. Give those tourists some stories to tell!! Softened up around 230, i banged some slush down ptarmigan a few laps before the bell rang.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Oh yeah. Forgot to mention, I think our East Coast friends would of laughed at us today for not being allowed to ski the front side...

 

[DanoT]

I once observed a false snow report from Lake Louise that they did correct but it seemed like they waited until all the Calgary skiers had already departed on the 2 hour drive, and then made the correction.

 

[Mike Rogers]

Fernie bragged about having 70mm of overnight "precipitation" earlier this year.

What type of precipitation is measured in mm again?

 

[LiquidFeet]

Here's today at Whitefish. Read from bottom to top:

Deep thoughts by Pat*:
12:30 PM:
We are closing most of the front side. Groomed runs are extremely firm today, it is hard to even stop. Ski carefully and only ski open terrain. Russ’ street is the route that will be open to the bottom.

12:00 PM:
Chair 1 is about to open. The snow today is a rime ice crust. The conditions demand careful skiing on groomed trails only. Off trail is not recommended. Like not even a little bit, stay on groomed runs. Terrain lower on the mountain is warming up and skiing better than higher up. Some areas of the mountain may be closed today, please respect the rope.

9:40 AM:
We still really can’t say how long it will take to get chair 1 open, but at least another hour or two before opening. There is rime and black ice on every chair that needs to be removed. Lower mountain is all rolling. The skiing is variable, stick to groomers.

8:40 AM:
Chair 2 along with 3, 6, and 9 are going to open at 9:00 as scheduled. Chair 1 is going to be delayed and it is our priority. Chair 7 will have to be de rimed next. Still no time frame, stay posted.

7:40 AM:
Chair 1 is going to be delayed opening this morning due to a thick layer of rime ice. Mechanics are clearing the rime chair by chair. It is impossible to put a time frame on it at this time, we will keep you updated on our progress. Fixed grip chairs should be rolling on time this morning. That is Chairs 3, 6, 9, and The Magic Carpet, which will open at 9:00 am. Chair 2 may also be delayed as all mechanics are working on Chair 1 right now.

6:00 AM Report:
Good Morning Skiers and Snowboarders! Today is March 1st and welcome to the Whitefish Snow Report. The primary weather starting yesterday afternoon, and continuing now, is a hard rime. It is a freezing mist that is creating a layer of white frost mountain wide. The forecast is calling for the clouds to steadily move out today, with partly sunny skies moving in. Visibility will improve with the clear out and the high temperature will be near 27 degrees. It is a typical "you need to be prepared for all kinds of weather" day.
Primary snow conditions today are groomed terrain and variable snow. You can always count on Whitefish's groomed runs to be skiing great and deliver the goods. Check out the grooming report below or on Summit electronic info boards. Off-piste, expect a rime crust on top of a lot of soft snow. Plan on staying on-piste until you feel it out.
Yesterday, some people had goggle scrapers to clear their goggles, others used their pass, while others just ditched their goggles all together. Tricky weather, but the mountain is skiing great and the movement and freedom of skiing is pure bliss. Please drive and ski safely. Have a great day today, we'll see you out there!

Boy it took them a while to make that difficult call. How busy was ski partrol that morning?

 

[Sibhusky]

Boy it took them a while to make that difficult call. How busy was ski partrol that morning?

No idea. Too busy standing in lines.

 

[Bill Miles]

Sun Valley is apparently embarrassed by their YTD snowfall, so they removed it from their snow report website.

 

[KevinF]

I liked the time that Mad River Glen described their own mountain as “frozen hellscape”.

I saw this thread and was going to comment on the time when MRG described their conditions as “atrocious, but we are 100% open”.

Now I wonder if “frozen hellscape” is better or worse than merely “atrocious”.

 

[KevinF]

And of course there’s this MRG classic:

 

[François Pugh]

What's this nonsense about removing the ice from the chairs. Does anyone really bother to do that? How nice! Where else is that done?

 

[Turoa Kiwi]

Here's what can be a regular occurrence on my home mountain
We can have quite long delays getting started sometimes
There are some great shots in this video

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[Sibhusky]

What's this nonsense about removing the ice from the chairs. Does anyone really bother to do that? How nice! Where else is that done?

I think they were mostly concerned with the successful grabbing of the cable by the chairs. Lots of times the chairs start to get bunched up and need to be re-spaced when there's ice. But the lifties (as opposed to the mechanics) were definitely banging on the chairs as they passed.

 

[mdf]

I think they were mostly concerned with the successful grabbing of the cable by the chairs. Lots of times the chairs start to get bunched up and need to be re-spaced when there's ice. But the lifties (as opposed to the mechanics) were definitely banging on the chairs as they passed.

I
Sounds they weren't deicing fixed grip chairs.
Could be a weight issue too.

 

[DanoT]

Fernie bragged about having 70mm of overnight "precipitation" earlier this year.

What type of precipitation is measured in mm again?

I have seen Mount Washington , B.C. report the snow but omit reporting the rain that fell on top of the snow...hey its a SNOW report. They can't hide the rain drops on the webcam lens though.