Anybody notice that the new TLin site indicates that they average over 200 inches of snow each year! More than the Shoe, more than Canaan, more than any other mid-Atlantic area???
Do they have a new measuring stick?
What gives?
The Colonel

Fastest snowgun switch east of the Pecos?

It's probably pretty accurate for the summit of the mountain.

I brought that fact up 2 weeks ago & no one gave it any notice..Has anyone noticed how the Canaan Valley guy who takes dailey obs will post 24 snowfall amounts that seem too good to believe? I began to notice this fact last year & the guy who takes obs up at Canaan hts even brought up this subject in one of his reports.....Maybe TL & this CV obs dude are in cahoots!...
Millions of dollars in real estate deals..tons of money in home rentals..sister of owner writing article about TL in Magazine along with other articles that seemed to pop up in the last couple of years...snowfall ave increasing by 50 inches a year.....Expensive Homes,Hotels? lot of hype & money making going on..but..WHERE IS OUR HIGH SPEED LIFT???!?

th adventuresinwv website says 180" but weather.com correlates about 220" so it may be realistic as a statistical average

I noticed...As a matter of fact, as soon as I read this thread, I recalled hearing you say that. It also has me questioning what is going here. Maybe they decided to average the 2002-2003 season with the 2005-2006. If you average 233" and 169" it comes out pretty close to 200....Heck, since they seemed to be feeling crazy, they should have went with the '95-'96 season. 233" and 259" would really increase condo sells in the Canaan Valley/Timberline area.........

.........I digress

Stats from Whitegrass:

Snowfall 06-07:194" * Skiable days: 96

Snowfall 05-06: 166" * Skiable days: 124

Snowfall 04-05: 162" * Skiable days: 101

Snowfall 03-04: 196" * Skiable days: 126

Snowfall 02-03: 224" * Skiable Days: 136

If you average these last five years, you get: 188.4. I wonder how many years back T-line had to go to get the 200-inch average. Personally, I am suspicious of numbers that look too round. Maybe Tucker or someone in the know can comment. At this point, I'll give Timberline the benefit of the doubt, but I'd like to see their stats.

This is not merely a question of whether or not they are playing games with annual snow numbers but this also goes to the issue of general credibility. If TL is willing to fudge the numbers to make the historical numbers bigger (and they could easily dispel this suspicion by posting the years that go into the average) then why should we believe their daily snow reports? Why should we not be suspect of anything they say on the website?

Right on!
The Colonel

If they fudge a bit on numbers who really cares. If its actually (per white grass numbers) 175 inches or so does it really matter???? I agree they shouldnt fudge the figures but its not like they are fudging them by a large amount.

Another foot or so in the grand scheme of things I really dont think matters

Just my thoughts

So if their daily snow report said 8 inches and it really actually per the stick was 7 inches would this change your thoughts on rather you went to ski that day?????

Thats the variance we are discussing here but on a larger scale.

Timberline Oregon averages way more than 200 inches of snow a year. Maybe they were splitting the difference between the two locations?

Or maybe Timberline decided to convert to the metric system and measure the snowfall in centimeters instead of inches.

Comeon guys, they just don't want to confuse people by using to many significant digits. Rounding error, rounding error...

...150" vs. 200" a year...6" vs 12" a day...what's the difference...it's all the same when you run it over with a groomer!

That is what I was thinking.... 200 is much more pleasing to the eye than 175......

hahahaha

Exactly

Anyone who has taken a stats course will realize how easy it is to cook numbers. It may be true that over the past 50 years, T-line has averaged 200 inches. Without telling us what years were surveyed, however, the stat is meaningless.

Ski-guide says that Timberline's annual average is 150 inches or 381 cms for all those metric hounds out there.

http://www.skitown.com/resortguide/stats.cfm/wv07/Timberline

The WV Ski Areas Association has been adamant about getting resorts to be honest in the information they put out, whether it be a snow report or snow averages. I hope Timberline heeds this "honesty is a good policy advice."


Also, I must agree with Tucker: once the groomer hits the slopes, all numbers become meaningless.

I tried but couldn't resist a say on this topic. T-line gives their snow report based upon the snowfall at the base area vrs other mountains who like to give a higher amount from their ridges. Having skied almost all mid-atlantic areas, I find the snow reports to vary by who, what, when and where, sno reports are given and therefore only makes for good discussion fodder. With that being said, I think that what t-line is doing is to report the average from the summit which in the grand scheme of things really doesn't matter, if, as some here have said they run a groomer over it(all too often). Personally, if they report 12" and I only have to shovel 8" from my doorstep, I'm not complaining. Besides, it all works the same.

I'm surprised so many people are shocked by the 200" at Timberline. If that is unbelievable to you then you must surely not believe the 150" average at the base, which has been corroborated by years of record keeping.

super accurate stats don't concern me too much. The only thing I care about is that they get snow, and a heck of alot of it! Snow from god, not just from a hose

I figured the math & using the TL Method, Mount Porte Crayon gets 225 a year!!

Given that the valley floor averages 150" (at a minimum) annually, I would think that the summit of Herz Mountain (Timerline) and most of the other peaks surrounding the valley could very easily average at least 200". Of course, I'm guessing that only tiny areas, geographically speaking, average 200".

Maybe they are counting all the snow they get in april when they are closing. God knows why they try to open in early december when there is no snow and close when there is plenty of it in April...

sigh...