How about a report that says... "Thar's snow in them there hills!"

I can't tell you what the totals are, but there was a lot of snow. Much of it was heavy, but there were a lot of people that got eaten by the lunchtime monster today, and most of them were quite happy with the fact.

There is a lot that opened and there were a lot of skiers scrambling for early turns. Trail clutter was everywhere.

Great day.

Will probably get a report up later, but for now I'm much too sore to sit at mr computer.

My very unscientific guess from the Valley floor is 4-5 by 7:00 this morning and another 5-8 throughout the day. There was enough that I'm sore from shoveling my decks and not, alas, from skiing.

No more skiing until I hit Bolton's $4 pass on Tuesday.

Is it just me, or has SB been particularly conservative with respect to snowfall totals this year? In the Friday storm, everyone I know in the valley was reporting a solid 10-12" or more on the valley floor. The mountain reported 8", even with the snow showers all day Saturday.

For yesterday's event, MRG reported 6" while SB is reporting 3". While I understand that these mesoscale events can produce widely varying snow totals from one area to the next, that is a pretty dramatic difference. I applaud the mtn for not taking the Jay Peak route and hyping everuy flake that falls though.

Tin Woodsman wrote:

Is it just me, or has SB been particularly conservative with respect to snowfall totals this year? In the Friday storm, everyone I know in the valley was reporting a solid 10-12" or more on the valley floor. The mountain reported 8", even with the snow showers all day Saturday. For yesterday's event, MRG reported 6" while SB is reporting 3". While I understand that these mesoscale events can produce widely varying snow totals from one area to the next, that is a pretty dramatic difference. I applaud the mtn for not taking the Jay Peak route and hyping everuy flake that falls though.

. ...Stowe's "annual average" of 333" claimed on their website, while SB clocks in at claimed 270". I thought SB sort of hung tight with Stowe on averages, and even had a bit more "frosting" on numerous of the recent years. Guess those numbers can be massaged daily, monthly, and annually any way you want. Taking a cue from the Fed gov......

Actually, I don't doubt the disparity between the annual snowfall at SB/MRG and the Mansfield ski areas. The fact of the matter is that many of these upslope, wraparound and clipper events tend to focus their greatest snowfalls north of I-89. Anecdotal observations also suggest that the snow tends to be a fair bit deeper at comparable elevations at Stowe vs. SB/MRG.

Can anyone provide an update on accumulations and weather up at the mountain? The 1" reported at an as-yet-undetermined time this morning on the SB snow report isn't helpful or encouraging. (grumble grumble)

Tin Woodsman wrote:

Can anyone provide an update on accumulations and weather up at the mountain? The 1" reported at an as-yet-undetermined time this morning on the SB snow report isn't helpful or encouraging. (grumble grumble)

The snow report is usually done at around 6AM. Based on what I see at the MRG webcam I am guessing 2/3" at the base and 3/5" on the mountain. I find that very encouraging. I guess we will have to wait for a first person report so relax and enjoy the snow.

The snow was good during lunch today... typical EC "wet powder" at the bottom, nice fluffier stuff at the top. Total snowfall is hard to say, but 6" at the top is conservative; a solid 3-4 at the base (and still snowing outside the window over my desk at 5:30pm). IMO, we've been very conservative in our snowfall totals this season - a major deviation from certain resorts to our north.

The disparity between average season snowfall totals at SB vs. Stowe seems to be inconsistent. I remember recently reading that the difference was small (>10"), although I can't remember the site. I'll look around and see where I came up with that info... However, we all know that no matter what the snow reports say, conditions here are usually every bit as good as they are over there. It's a very Brighton/Alta kind of relationship (some years one is higher than the other) - different but equal valleys, snowfall-wise.

The weather info on our website is essentially realtime. The snow report is updated frequently throughout the day - I'll pass on the feedback about timestamps (I agree that it is difficult to decipher when these reports are posted).

-TTT

TTT, thanks for the snow report 'update'. I am planning to be up to SB for a day trip on Saturday.

TTT -

that's a great update. Thanks. I absolutely agree that SB has been quite conservative this year in terms of new snow totals, even relative to MRG. You guys measuring at the Sugarbush Inn or something?

Maybe the site you're thinking of is www.bestsnow.net? That's Tony Crocker's ski area snowfall site. From what I can tell via the literature I've read and personal observations, the Manfiedl massif does tend to get a little more snow than SB/MRG over the course of the season. It will vary at times depending on storm tracks and such, but those upslope events really tend to kick in north of I-89. Still, I'm not complaining - there's always deep snow somewhere on the ridge.

I've heard from others that the online snow report is updated throughout the day, though past pbservations being the veracity of that claim into doubt. I've seen several days this year where it was snowing for much of the day, yet the needle didn't move an inch on the website. The changes you might want there are very simple:

1) Time stamps on updates so people can know at what time the report is valid

2) A clear commitment to post at least an end of day update in addition to the early morning update ala MRG. If supplemented by a policy of adding a mid-day update when changing weather conditions warrant (be it new snow, rain, or wind), that would be fantastic.

3) The addition of 2-3 sentences at the bottom of the report giving a qualitative overview of what to expect or look in terms of snow, terrain or lifts. For example, the morning after storm rolls through, you could add:

"It's a fantastic day to be at Sugarbush today! As of 6:00 AM we've received 8-10" of light and dry, and early word from the mountain ops folks indicates that it's even deeper in spots on the upper mountain. Please be aware that wth this storm have come some strong winds out of the NW, so Heaven's Gate, Summit Quad, and Super Bravo will be on windhold until further notice. Picks of the day for you corduroy lovers include XXX and XXX while we've left Paradise and all of Castlerock untouched for those of you with a powder jones."

That took about 3 minutes to write and it included lots of vital information for tourists (where are the groomers, what lifts are open, how much new snow) and locals (where is the powder; where might the snow be wind-affected; will the snowsnakes from the other day still be lurking?) alike.

Finally, it would be great to have the web cam up and operating again. I am forced to use the one down in the valley (not indicative of what's happening on the mountain) or over at MRG.

Tin - The snow report used to be like that, before the transition to the new site. It doesn't make sense to me why it isn't there any more.

OK - who defiled the weather Gods? This is seriously depressing. I wake up expecting a nice start to this storm cycle, and see 5-6" to the Norht of us, 4-5" to the South of us, and NADA right in the middle.

Seriously - WTF?!


That's not cool, Ullr. Not cool.

WTF!!!!!!!!! is right!!

http://madriverglen.com/?Page=weatherx.php

Wow, this would be OK wouldn't it?

I am hoping that the last weather update on the MRG site is accurate. I have already told my co-workers that I may be coming down with a bug that could keep me out of the office on Monday and Tuesday. I hope the forecast is more based on fact than rose colored glasses, the other weather sites are predicting rain to snow and only 5 inches.

I will start burning skis and doing the snow dance. Only 22 hours until I ski again.