Edd
Well-known member
Yeah, but this is basic Vail strategy, no matter the time of year. Their snow reports are about as helpful as a coin flip, it’s obvious they consider accurate, detailed information for the customer to be a negative.
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VAIL SUCKS
- Thread starter thebigo
- Start date
I remember 3 or 4 years ago I was at Mt Snow on a day it was dumping and was lapping the North Face waiting for Sunbrook to open. I see it finally listed as open on the map so I take a little woods cut that brings you over there. The run was great untouched powder the whole way down and I’m thinking to myself wow no one must’ve noticed it was open. Get to the bottom and the lifty tells me its not supposed to be open yet but sends me back up the lift anyway. At the top ski patrol was waiting for me and tells me they’re going to take my pass for ducking ropes. I show them the virtual map and that it has all of Sunbrook open already. Old man ski patroller tells me that doesn’t matter I still ducked a rope (which I didn’t) he radios in and they told him to just let me go. Learned a valuable lesson that day never to trust the virtual trail map…
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
joshua segal
Well-known member
Snow reporting has been an historical industry-wide problem. The classic reporters like Lloyd Lambert and Roxie Rothafel would stop reporting an area's condition if they got too many complaints about inflated conditions being reported. These days, the areas do their own reporting. Are there any "honest brokers" out there when it comes to condition reports and open-trail counts?
eatskisleep
Well-known member
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Probably just MRG.
I think the majority of non-Vail resorts actually list the correct open trails and counts. Honest/detailed conditions is another story. I'd would however also say Stowe even though they're a Vail resort tends to be not only accurate with their open trails, but also has a good detailed and honest conditions report. Which proves that other Vail resorts could do it if they wanted to...
"As I love saying, 'you're welcome!'"
www.saminfo.com
Keystone Wins Race to Open on 90 Minutes Notice
SAM Magazine—Keystone, Colo., Oct 27, 2025—On Saturday morning, Arapahoe Basin announced it would open for the season Sunday at 8:30 a.m. MDT, positioning
AdironRider
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The reality is almost no one bags a day of skiing because one specific trail is open or closed. Its a situation that some claim is important, but then never actual act upon. The reality is most skiers, when they have the time to go ski, will go ski. They will bag it if its raining. They will definitely come out if its snowing, both of which are independently verified these days and you aren't dependent on the ski area marketing department.
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Smellytele
Well-known member
Well if a place said they had a tree run open and another did not I would go for the glades. So it isn't a total bail but helps in the decision making. Same if one place states they have expert terrain open and another doesn't. If I got to said place and said terrain was not open I would be pissed and may bail.
kbroderick
Active member
When I was full-time remote with an understanding boss, it wasn't uncommon for me to make a "go skiing or start the day at the computer" decision based on the trail report, and as Smellytele suggests, sometimes you can use status for a single natural snow trail to get a sense for what options you can expect.
The marginal revenue from my decision was zero, though, because it was more about which days I'd ski, not how many, and I rarely spent any incidental cash in the process.
Late updates on snowfall are more annoying, IMO--when I decide based on the initial report I should get stuff done and then fifteen minutes after first chair it gets updated from 3" to 12" and I know wasn't snowing that hard in the interim...
In the many years (almost three decades) here on AZ, I can easily say that accurate snow reporting is a major concern for skiers and riders and a constant topic of discussion. We've talked about how fickle eastern weather requires folks in the east to constantly check trail and snow reports. And in this thread we have talked about how Vail's centralization of management (including utilizing the same snow report format) does not work well out east due to folks needing to know specifics about what is open and the conditions.
AdironRider
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Maybe on AZ which has the same negative nancies posting all day it is, meanwhile Keystone and ABasin were mobbed by skiers that actually know how to have a good time this weekend.
jimmywilson69
Well-known member
^^^^^^^
May I introduce into Evidence "exhibit A"
May I introduce into Evidence "exhibit A"
Come on. Apparently you had a bad day and are now here taunting people. Most folks on here are not going to fly to Colorado to ski a WROD this weekend. Give it up.
And you're certainly welcome to start a thread discussing how awesome you think Vail is. Nobody is stopping you. But doing something constructive is not why you are here.....
I prefer the moniker ' Nattering Nabobs of Negativity'.
A coin flip might be a better choice.
I remember one year a long time ago when Killington advertised “top to bottom skiing, all levels, all abilities” so my step son and I went up. It was a disaster! While the ski patrol was taking care of one person they were three others or more lying on the ground waiting for attention.
To break up the ski report:
top to bottom skiing; Yes there was,
all levels: There was at least one green. blue, and black trail on the mountain.
all abilities, and yes there was at least one trail for each ability.
However only the experts (maybe) could ski top to bottom and even then they’d be dodging the rocks and bodies.
