I have put the link into ChrisC's first post of this thread. Today is the first time I've read it. Bryan and Joel both have rather inspiring entrepreneurial back stories.
I'll reiterate that the "expert" reports are the key value of OpenSnow, particularly from the three originators in Tahoe, Utah and Colorado. Given the high profile of those regions, that's a good reason for lots of people to subscribe. I pushed Joel to expand into other states/regions and he has done that. How good are those forecasts, particularly from people who do not live in those regions? Not necessarily as good as from the resident forecasters but still worthwhile.
WePowder does not forecast daily, but it is local in the Alps and probably the best source when it does forecast.
As far as the past data problem is concerned, my view is that the reader needs to know what is reliable and what is not. In response to ChrisC's critiques, I e-mailed Joel last fall and wrote up that correspondence
here regarding the sources of historical data. That info plus the screenshot above believe informs any careful reader what data is credible and what is not.
Ski resort snow reporting is more comprehensive, reliable and publicly accessible in North America than other ski regions. The exception might be Japan, where
SnowJapan has lots of data from the past 20 years or so.
The Southern Hemisphere is very difficult, South America in particular.
Why is Europe reporting so bad when it is the dominant ski region in the world in terms of scale, lift infrastructure and skier visits? My 2 cents:
1) Fraser frequently comments that the ski culture over there does not obsess about snow totals like we do. Part of that is that 95% of the clientele stays on-piste and they are looking for sun not snow. Consider what the winter weather is like at home in England and Germany: at least as gloomy as the Great Grey North I mention in North America at similar latitudes >45 degrees.
2) The low tree line snow forces measuring that is done in the Alps to be at relatively low elevation within ski terrain. That's often not useful in the context of the big verticals and surely a disincentive for resorts to publicize it.
3) Austria and Switzerland have extensive data but are secretive about making it available to the public. I could only get summarized data for a handful of locations. I even went to the SLF office in Davos in person and got nowhere.
