Condition Reports, Snowphones and Websites

In the "old days" (before the internet), there was only one way to find out what conditions were like on the mounain. The snowphone. As a kid, I would call several of the resorts' snowphones so often that my parents had to put limits on the number of times I could call each day. (I believe the limit was three.) I still have the numbers memorized. And I still remember the names of some of the voices on the line -- Camille, Bill and Don at Timberline... also Jon at Timberline and Karen at Skibowl (both of whom are still there!). And on big snow days, I would call and call and call... only to get a busy signal. The volume of callers would frequently overwhelm the resorts' snowphone lines.

Today, the internet is trying its best to make the snowphone obsolete. It's rare that I call anymore. (Don't get me wrong; I am still obsessive-compulsive about checking the snow condition reports -- but now I use a computer instead of the telephone.) I am not alone... one resort official told me recently that the number of phone lines they now dedicate the snowphone is only a small fraction of the number they had during the pre-internet days. And jammed lines or busy signals are almost unheard of anymore.

Ski areas have long been accused of lying about their conditions on the snowphone. Alright, lying isn't the best word -- perhaps "omitting" or "exaggerating" are better word choices. Regardless, skiers and boarders had no way to knowing whether or not the voice on the phone was speaking the full truth, the complete truth, and nothing but the truth, unless they ventured up to the mountain to see for themselves what conditions were like. But not any more, thanks to the vast amount of weather data from automated weather sensors on the mountain. That's why, despite my nostalgia, the movement of the snow-reporting emphasis to the internet is a very good thing. Not only does it force accuracy, but it allows the resorts to disseminate SO much more information than a voice on the snowphone could ever deliver. But this is only true if the resorts choose to disseminate a lot of information. Unfortunately, many still don't.

The Mount Hood ski areas have made great progress with their on-line condition report web pages in the last couple years. Mt. Hood Meadows' page is the best of the batch -- they display more information on their site than Timberline and Skibowl display on their sites. But, when I surfed around other ski area sites around the USA, I saw some amazing web pages that put our Mt. Hood ski area sites to shame. My favorites:

Mammoth Mountain (California) (http://www.mammothmountain.com/index.cfm). What I like about this site: lift status is updated automatically, in real-time, with status indications of OPEN, CLOSED or STANDBY during operating hours, and indications of EXPECTED or CLOSED each morning before the mountain opens for the day. There are also detailed new-snow reports and live weather conditions with several LIVE web cameras scattered throughout the resort to view.

Okemo (Vermont) (http://www.okemo.com/okemowinter/ourmountain/snowreport.asp). What I like about this site: The snow reporter writes a lengthy, detailed report about the conditions each morning. True, there's a lot of "selling" in the reports, but I still appreciate the effort. I really like the list of EVERY run on page, with indications about each run's open/closed status and symbols showing if the run has been groomed, had snow made on it, or is full of bumps.

And, my favorite: Sugar Bowl (California) (http://sugar2.sugarbowl.com/trailmaps/sugarbowlmap.swf). What I like about this site: It's not a tradional snow report page; instead, it's an interractive trail map with real-time open/closed status of lifts, trails (with grooming information), lodges and facilities along with clickable views of webcams from various spots on the mountain. There are even clickable views of terrain parks and podcasts that describe the terrain.

Sugar Bowl is on the right track, and is headed in the information-dissemination direction that all resorts should be headed. My dream snow report page would indeed be in the form of an interractive map. I would hope to see numerous clickable information points on the map, with each point showing:

• live weather conditions
• 24 hours of weather history
• snow accumulation information
• a live/interractive camera view.

Each lift, when clicked on the map, would be indicated as open/closed/expected, the lift's operating hours would be shown, the current lift-line wait time would appear, and there would be a description of the terrain served. Each run, when clicked on the map, would be described and indicated as open or closed and there would be information about the current snow surface (groomed, bumpy, powder, bare spots, unskiable, etc.). Each terrain park area, when clicked on the map, would be described (in words and pictures) and a park status update would appear. And lodges & parking lots would be clickable on the map as well, allowing information to be displayed about facilities open/closed and how full the lots are with cars.

I realize that such an interractive map would require a tremendous computer programming effort and a large commitment to infrastructure so that the map could be highly detailed and updated in real (or near-real) time. But it's a target at which every resort should aim. Too-little, inaccurate and/or untimely/out-dated information are significant sources of guest complaints to ski areas. The resorts that hit the target with such a detailed, interractive map will benefit greatly, in my opinion, by being leaders in information dissemination and accuracy. I look forward to the day when a Mount Hood ski area overcomes the technology challenges to make it happen...