Thu Jun 25, 2015 5:21 pm
powderfreak wrote:No way that Burke gets 248" and Sutton gets 200"...absolutely no way. If anything, Sutton should be 248" and Burke is 200". I can't believe Burke says 248"? I was thinking like 180" at the summit of Burke, if that.
Thu Jun 25, 2015 5:31 pm
powderfreak wrote:1) They have no set stakes or any true system for measuring snow. The person stated its too windy and snowfall varies too much to only measure in fixed locations. The range of snowfall given on the report is there to give you an approximation of what you'll find on the hill. Most days it could be 0-24".
2) Its mostly an eyeball and gut feeling on snowfall. Snow Reporters can get very good at estimating snowfall over time, but when giving snowfall ranges what often ends up happening is the upper number is the drifted side of the trail. As skiers we are drawn to the "deeper side of the trail" so say you ski a run and the whole right side it was knee deep and billowing. "There was at least 15 inches out there!" That's what happens when you don't measure in the same place every single time. You end up almost cherry picking the deep lines and that's how much snow fell.
Fri Jun 26, 2015 9:54 am
Fri Jun 26, 2015 12:23 pm
jamesdeluxe wrote:Anecdotally (which is all that really matters), I've always done very well there.
Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:54 am
Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:10 am
Mon Jun 29, 2015 8:17 am
Mon Jun 29, 2015 1:05 pm
jamesdeluxe wrote:Did I pass the test?
jamesdeluxe wrote:Admin was not quite correct to claim that the large discrepancy between base and summit was BS.
Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:44 pm
Harvey44 wrote:Can someone summarize the conclusions of this thread in four easy to read bullet points? Who won?
Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:47 pm
Tony Crocker wrote:jamesdeluxe wrote:Admin was not quite correct to claim that the large discrepancy between base and summit was BS.
He wasn't correct at all. a 25% difference is very common, fairly routine in Colorado where rain has zero influence.
Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:44 pm
Admin wrote:Tony Crocker wrote:jamesdeluxe wrote:Admin was not quite correct to claim that the large discrepancy between base and summit was BS.
He wasn't correct at all. a 25% difference is very common, fairly routine in Colorado where rain has zero influence.
I called BS on a 47% difference, not 25%.
Admin wrote:Harvey44 wrote:Can someone summarize the conclusions of this thread in four easy to read bullet points? Who won?
I'll use one word: Me.
powderfreak wrote:Regarding the bold...the differences in upper mountain snowfall in the Greens is not tied to rain/snow events. For example, this past season I measured as diligently as one possibly can in a mountain environment on two snowboards, and came up with 170" at the base and 284" at the summit. I've done the numbers before and regardless of the type of winter, the upper mountain plot (3,014ft) will receive somewhere between 30-40% more than the base at 1,550ft. Its almost fail-proof. If the upper plot gets 300", the base will be around 200" or at least that's the general association.
Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:15 am
Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:19 pm
Tony Crocker wrote:jamesdeluxe wrote:Did I pass the test?
Yes. Outstanding questions remain.
1) How much, if any extra snow, does Jay get vs. Mt. Mansfield? Not easily resolvable due to Jay's imprecise snowfall methodology.
2) Where and why does snowfall decline rapidly as you go north of the US-Canada border? Beyond Mt. Sutton, elevation, orientation and overall barrier size of mountains are logical negative factors. Sutton itself remains a question according to JSpin and powderfreak, so I'm trying to contact Sutton directly, with no success so far.jamesdeluxe wrote:Admin was not quite correct to claim that the large discrepancy between base and summit was BS.
He wasn't correct at all. a 25% difference is very common, fairly routine in Colorado where rain has zero influence. At some places like Squaw Valley and Park City it's much more. At Alta that difference is unusually low, which would understandably influence admin's view on the topic. The difference between the UDOT measurements at Alta's base and the ski area's measurements halfway up the hill are less than 10%. Alta's snowfall is impressive by any measure, but for the base of the ski area it's especially remarkable.
Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:35 pm
Tony Crocker wrote:Tony Crocker wrote:jamesdeluxe wrote:Admin was not quite correct to claim that the large discrepancy between base and summit was BS.
He wasn't correct at all. a 25% difference is very common, fairly routine in Colorado where rain has zero influence.
Winter Park averages 213 at 9,265 feet and 349 about 2/3 of the way up the mountain at 10,800 feet. That's 39%. If this is the long term average difference someplace it never rains in the winter, it's not unreasonable that it could happen in a Vermont winter with unusually little rain.
Mon Jul 06, 2015 4:47 pm
powderfreak wrote: A 200" average there has to be wrong, IMO. This season though, they recorded 502cm which is 197". So that would mean that Jay Peak, only 10 miles as the crow flies, picked up 180" more snow than them. That doesn't sit right and I really can't see how that could ever happen, honestly.