Did Vail intentionally ruin snow reports?

BenedictGomez · Jan 1, 2020

Orca said:
Mountain snow reports have evolved into marketing spin with the good news exaggerated and the bad news suppressed.

I disagree with this.

While there will always be "spin" in these marketing reports, I believe they are on balance far more accurate & honest today than when I was a kid. It's not that they found their honor, it's that there is almost no point in lying in the age of the internet. As such, few resorts are guilty of outrageous snow-report fibbing these days. For a real-life example, Jay Peak used to be horrendously misleading, but today is a very honest report. Yes, there are some that still routinely outright lie (Camelback is the worst I can think of), but they're few & far between now.

kingslug · Jan 2, 2020

Frozen granular...still a favorite..
.

kingslug · Jan 3, 2020

Well..they are changing Stowe..

kendo · Jan 3, 2020

From the accumulation on the pines, no idea why the rope's up?

Stowe used to be known for their iconic red gondolas - now it's ropes, poles and plastic rounds.

Saw your pic in the other thread showing Stowe patrol blocked off a small ramp, top of Main Street:

Meanwhile Telluride posted a video on their Facebook page yesterday of (6) skiers in succession doing back flips off a cat track in what looks to be Revelation bowl. Different corporate attitudes on display!

kingslug · Jan 3, 2020

They closed a bunch of runs that were perfect yesterday..chin clip was in great shape..the s53 to the middle of star was in great shape..and with warm temps today everything was like spring..even hayride is closed...
Next season im getting an icon pass as well so i can hit SB whenever i want

kendo · Jan 4, 2020

Today's report: "81 trails, 50 groomed, 20 miles of packed powder" - yet S53, Lower Starr, Hayride and most DD's reported closed today? Hoping for some good accumulation the next few days as I'll be up on Monday for the week. Also thinking of the SB option for next year.

BenedictGomez · Jan 4, 2020

kingslug said:
Frozen granular...still a favorite..

It's the all-time chart-topper that I dont think it can be beat in the snow report context.

It's right up there with pre-owned cars, etc...

BenedictGomez · Jan 4, 2020

kingslug said:
They closed a bunch of runs that were perfect yesterday..chin clip was in great shape..

Clin Clip was closed? That's one of my favorite runs at Stowe, and the sort of expert terrain one would think remain open. Clearly Vails lawyers are now in charge. Very sad.

kendo · Jan 4, 2020

BenedictGomez said:
Clin Clip was closed? That's one of my favorite runs at Stowe, and the sort of expert terrain one would think remain open. Clearly Vails lawyers are now in charge. Very sad.

Risk management professional in charge:

http://news.vailresorts.com/mountai...unces-karen-wagner-as-ski-patrol-director.htm

Nothing but respect for ski patrols on all mountains but mountain ops have definitely gone ultra conservative at Stowe. All the yellow warning banners they placed between Midway and the Gondola entrance did nothing to stop the run away snowboard that zipped thru the gondola queue and ended up in the creek when I was up a couple weeks ago. Will probably see more nets going up.

kingslug · Jan 4, 2020

We will see tomorrow..its pounding up there now,at least 6 inches will be on the ground tomorrow. Chin clip opened but was pretty firm even with a a few inches coating it..was fun but a lot of work..for me and 2 kids on snowboards. By 345 everything had a good coating. Middle national and middle Hayride were still closed as well as Goat and all the upper front 4's. Tomorrow i would think they could open. Even though i left jay after 1 run due to pure ice ..the whole place was marked open..

JimG. · Jan 5, 2020

kendo said:
Risk management professional in charge:

http://news.vailresorts.com/mountai...unces-karen-wagner-as-ski-patrol-director.htm

Nothing but respect for ski patrols on all mountains but mountain ops have definitely gone ultra conservative at Stowe. All the yellow warning banners they placed between Midway and the Gondola entrance did nothing to stop the run away snowboard that zipped thru the gondola queue and ended up in the creek when I was up a couple weeks ago. Will probably see more nets going up.

More megapass effects...Killington has signs at all lift lines reminding guests that vaping and cannabis are prohibited; but apparently it's still OK to drink beer on lifts and ski like an asshole.

And a friend of mine relayed a story of ducking a rope at K and being hunted down by ski patrollers who threatened to pull his season pass. That's a $1,000 threat. This makes me wonder what happens to Ikon passholders who duck ropes. Do they get their Ikon passes pulled? Or do they just lose their days at K? Or probably more likely nothing happens to them.

Just more disrespect to loyal season passholders.

bdfreetuna · Jan 5, 2020

Not sure if it's a new thing. I've rarely been to Stowe when all the "front 5" were open. I always thought they were conservative with the trail openings especially compared to all their neighbors.

BenedictGomez · Jan 5, 2020

JimG. said:
And a friend of mine relayed a story of ducking a rope at K and being hunted down by ski patrollers who threatened to pull his season pass. That's a $1,000 threat. This makes me wonder what happens to Ikon passholders who duck ropes. Do they get their Ikon passes pulled? Or do they just lose their days at K? Or probably more likely nothing happens to them.

Just more disrespect to loyal season passholders.

Hah! Great point, I hadnt thought about that.

If I had to guess, I'd go with option #2, which yes, is another example of the "loyal" SPH being treated worse.

kingslug · Jan 5, 2020

Stowe pulls your pass for 4 weeks

kendo · Jan 8, 2020

Today's on slope report... Great conditions at Stowe. Powder everywhere, still coming down and most everything in play. Take a couple vacation days and get out before this weekend if you can!

kingslug · Jan 8, 2020

Just did 7 days up there...got to get rid of this work thing!!!

kingslug · Jan 8, 2020

Guess they got it right today:
[h=3]Today's Forecast[/h]

- [*=center][FONT=icons !important][/FONT] 18°F
  [*=center]Overcast
- 25°F
  [FONT=icons !important] HI[/FONT]
- -1°F
  [FONT=icons !important] LOW[/FONT]
- 2-4in
- DAYTIME SNOW
- 1-2in
- OVERNIGHT SNOW
[*=center]Possible light snow in the afternoon.

kendo · Jan 8, 2020

Awesome 2 days so far this week. Legs are shot. Still snowing steady. Light and dry. 4-6" on trails with 8"-10" from yesterday and today along edges and in trees. Spruce Line opened this afternoon and was deep.

prsboogie · Jan 8, 2020

Today was fantastic at Stowe. Conservative 4+ by 9 this am. Day three for us and I was smoked by 11. Monday and Tuesday were fine but finally getting towards midwinter conditions on the mountain. Definitely need to work on powder legs!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using AlpineZone mobile app

kingslug · Jan 8, 2020

Ohhhh...i knew i should have quit my job and stayed up there...lol.

Did Vail intentionally ruin snow reports?

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