# Accurate Snow Totals?



## lemsip (Sep 11, 2009)

Copper has something similar.

Copper Mountain - Snow Stake Cam


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## nmalozzi (Jun 19, 2007)

no way of knowing if those lines are actually an inch apart though 

there are so many other factors as well. such as the location of the ruler. i was at copper yesterday and they reported 7in over night. in some spots it was closer to 1in, and more then 7 in others. in the end those measurements are only valuable in telling you it snowed recently.


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## lemsip (Sep 11, 2009)

They look small to be inches. I was at Copper on Saturday and it snowed a few inches in the morning, so that's some of the alleged seven inches in 24 hours, and it was scraped off by lunch.


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## rrb3 (Sep 30, 2009)

Does anyone else know of any other Colo ski area with a link this real??


Sunlight has a mountain cam: Mountain Cam | Sunlight Mountain Resort

Copper has the most inaccurate reports that I've experienced- they must find the most windloaded slope on the mountain.


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## ENDOMADNESS (Jun 21, 2005)

I agree about Coppers inaccurate readings. 

For all the crap Vail gets, their report never does justice for the backside. 7-8" at mid mountain (where they report) is 12" in the back. 

Jackson Hole always reports snow totals from the top of the mtn...not nearly that much in the Hobacks or mid mtn.


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## Geezer (Oct 14, 2003)

Well as long as guys keep doing the measurements they will always be higher than real life.


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## lmyers (Jun 10, 2008)

I know Monarch's mid-mountain base is accurate, I ski by it every so often. It is in the bottom 1/4 of their mountain, but definitely in an area that gets wind loaded. Their summit readings average 30% more though. I'm not sure where they measure their 24 & 48 hr. totals, but I usually look at the web cam and see what is on the picnic tables on the deck....

here is a webcam shot I saved from last year when they reported 35" in 48 hours:








I found it to be accurate.


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## Porkchop (Sep 19, 2007)

you know it sucks when steamboat reports .25". thats just pathetic. I admit it made me do a hard double take. PRAY FOR SNOW!!


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## td (Apr 7, 2005)

Steamboat is more conservative with their reporting than most places that I've had season passes. They report the yearly total at mid mountain and if they reported at the top (PHQ or the towers), the yearly average would probably be well over 400". Usually the daily report isn't too far off, especially if you know the difference between new snow in the past 24 hrs and new snow since the lifts closed. Occasionally they grossly under report, which is always nice when you're on the hill and everyone else goes to work thinking it's not that great. I'm always curious as to how accurate Silverton is with their totals as they are so much higher than other resorts in the area.


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## freeheelintodd (Aug 7, 2005)

*snow totals*

Colorado ski country says a snow stake has to be in the middle 1/3 of the mountain. That said...you have more snow usually above the stake and less at the base area. Look out your window and get your own snow data if your worried


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## Canada (Oct 24, 2006)

*Toas*

Funny how nothing changes in the ski industry. Growing up we used to divide the reported total at Toas in half and figured that was about accurate. A couple weeks ago here in utah we had reported 2" in the morning and it was above my four year olds knee. Which probably means about 8". I agree that mountain cams seem the way to go. I always look at the cam to determine if it is worth running out after work.


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