7Springs over the past few weeks has turned 1 or 2" of snow into ten times what they have received. It's odd, one day they will report 1-2", another day 1-2", then they will post something on their banner page that says they received 8" in the past 2 days.

I see other resorts doing this. When does the madness end? We've gone from falsifying snowfalls totals to flat out lying to the customer.

The other is when a resort says "we made snow on most of the mountain". When in reality, they blew some ice in the slow areas only.

Shrug.

I can't speak for the other days but today at hv I have measured 14" so far that has fallen today. I think realistically an 1" or 2" can fall locally and get grommets into base without much fanfare.

Why?

$$$

I rely on Chip's daily reports and web cams.

Sincraft - we received 14" of snow on Sunday. Perhaps if you got out of your house a little more and out there on the snow, it might make you smile a little more. You missed a premier Mid-Atlantic powder event. What 7Springs posted was an under estimation. We need to support our local ski resorts, not trash them. Unless you can figure out how to move Deer Valley to the Mid-Atlantic, we have to make the best of what we've got.

It's not always what it seems, but it goes both ways.
Some resorts estimate 3" to fall overnight - so the next morning, without even looking outside, they say x number of trails open and 3" of new snow. The reality in that case could be that 8 inches have already fallen.

Other resorts will gauge the overnight snowfall. That's a big difference from the last 24 hours snowfall. Overnight is how much snow has fallen from the time the resort closed to the time it re-opened in the morning.

Then, of course, there are the exaggerations.

Given a choice, I would provide:
- Last 7 days snowfall
- Last 24 hours snowfall
- Overnight snowfall

Add in the midst of things: human error, snowfall gauging tools, snow compactness, measurement location and wind drift... and you have yourself a whole lot of variable.

Personally, I gauge what I see on top of the mountain. When the winds are high, a quick notation is made.

... and then there are lawyers... I mean liars. LOL

Hidden Valley gets a snow total each morning from the Mt. Manager. He measures the snow where he parks each day.
Not overly scientific but what he tells them is as accurate
as looking at a snowstake.
What then goes on the report isoout of his control.
the marketing people look at what the other resorts list
and always nudge toward the higher amounts to draw skiers.
if you want accuracy buy a house where you ski and measure it every day!

imp

7 springs has been getting pretty consistent snow for the past 2 weeks, it was snowing very hard when i was there tonight.

Best idea of whats going on in the Hidden Valley/Seven Springs..and Laurel mountain area if open would be the Laurel ridge Webcam.
http://www.paccsa.org/lrwebcam
There is a morning report of coop weather observers that you can also get from the nws...I can get obs from Mt Davis..the highest mountain in PA..