Snow-quality reports from ski areas sometimes seem an exercise in semantics. In these recordings, there is no such thing as ”ice,” for example. Instead, it`s ”hardpack.” And there`s no ”slush,” although sometimes a report will admit to ”frozen granular.”
Because of the tendency of ski resorts to describe snow conditions in the most favorable way, the entire snow-reporting business developed a bad reputation, particularly when it began in the early `50s.
In recent years, misleading information has diminished, not so much because reporting has improved but because surface conditions have. Now the slopes are more likely to match the descriptions.
”Snowmaking and grooming have made a difference,” said Phil Camp, who for the past 23 years has been executive director of one of the oldest reporting services, the New England Ski Areas Council (NESAC).
”Ski area managements are also more aware of the long-range impact of inaccurate reports. People don`t return a second time if the report is wrong.”
Two new services
Competition among reporting services may also have improved the accuracy of the reports. This year, two new services promise independent reporting from skiers who check slopes in the Northeast daily.
Here is a look at some of the major sources of information for skiers.
NESAC, as the oldest reporting service, established the method of reporting on conditions.
Through the night, workers at about 100 ski areas in the Northeast-anyone from a snowmaking supervisor to a night watchman-call NESAC offices to leave reports on answering machines.
NESAC staff members arrive early in the morning to transcribe the reports for 60- and 90-second broadcasts sent to about 200 radio stations.
NESAC also sends reports to wire services, puts the data into computer bulletin boards and offers two-page reports for facsimile transmission ($2.50 each; to order call 900-386-7669) covering 450 ski areas in six regions. About 170 are in New England, 100 in the Midwest and 165 in the Rockies and on the West Coast.
NESAC`s weakness is that it is a trade organization using the reports of its members. Its strength is that the member areas can be tough on each other for flagrant abuses.
Morrie Trumble & Associates. Another radio reporting service is operated by Morrie Trumble, who covers about 250 ski areas for 600 radio stations throughout the country. His reports are also fed to news wire and computer services.
He says he does not depend strictly on reports from the ski areas, which he receives at night; he also has a group of skiers (mostly in the Northeast) checking different areas daily, and he telephones a network of other skiers for feedback.
Although Trumble is paid by the ski areas, not the radio stations, he says, ”We are not under any obligation to use the information as it comes from the ski areas. We`re not tied to their language so we can change it, intrepret it and add advice. We try to make the reports sound like skiers talking to each other. We`ll say, `The top of the mountain has new snow, but it`s spotty toward the bottom.` ”
Reports on cable TV
Weather Channel. For the first time this year, the cable TV Weather Channel will televise snow-condition reports at five minutes past the hour seven days a week throughout the ski season, starting Dec. 1 (or earlier if snow conditions warrant it). The information is supplied by Trumble.
While Trumble says he mentions about 16 to 18 areas in 60-second radio broadcasts, the Weather Channel will cover only six ski areas in one region in the 60-second spot, with a weather map background. The region will change hourly, followed by a brief rundown of local ski areas.
American Express. The 900-WEATHER (900-932-8437) telephone service that American Express started a year ago, with information provided by Accu-Weather, offers ski area condition reports as part of its weather report.
This year the reports will come from AMI News of San Francisco, a service similar to Morrie Trumble`s. The price for a call is 75 cents a minute. For a list of the 165 ski areas, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to 900-WEATHER Ski Booklet, 240 Madison Ave., 11th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016.
Two snow reporting services are starting this season, both promising objective reports from people who ski at the areas. The paid snow reporters are recruited by word of mouth from bartenders, waitresses, artists, self-employed business people, ski shop personnel and others who are at the slopes every day.
Tele-Ski provides information by telephone (900-776-7541) from independent skiers at 38 ski areas in the Northeast.
Operated by Jeff Hastings, formerly a Nordic jumper on the United States Ski Team, and Fred Buddemeyer, formerly a New York investment banker, the service gives 90 seconds of information about mountain conditions as well as advertising about hotels, restaurants, equipment rentals and day-care facilities at a single ski area.
Callers can stay on the line for information about other areas. Local businesses pay for the advertising, and snow conditions are updated daily. Price for the calls is 95 cents a minute billed to the caller`s phone.
Ski conditions faxed
A similar service, SkiFax, operated by Tiger Shaw, a U.S. Ski Team member, and his partner Karl Schroll, who conceived the idea, puts a two-page facsimile report about a single ski area in the hands of skiers (900-386-2754 or 800-999-1329) and also offers telephone reports (900-386-1754). The fax reports are $2.95 charged to the caller`s telephone bill or credit card, while the voice reports are 95 cents a minute charged to the caller`s telephone.
The fax reports include details about snow conditions, weather forecasts, snowmaking and grooming, waiting times in lift lines and upcoming events. They also carry advertising for national sponsors and local businesses.
The voice reports are briefer descriptions of an area selected by punching in the first three letters of the area name. SkiFax pays stringers at 80 ski areas (35 East, 35 West and 10 Midwest) to ski and call in daily reports.
In a few states, snow reports can be obtained from tourist boards or other agencies.
Colorado Ski Country USA gives snow reports (303-831-7669) for the 26 areas in the state. These are updated daily at 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. and, when there is fresh snow, at 4 p.m.
Tourist offices representing European countries usually receive weekly or twice-weekly reports on ski conditions in the Alps.
The French Government Tourist Office in New York (900-420-2003, ext. 1992), for example, receives reports each Thursday from the association of French ski resorts, which represents 75 areas. The charge is 50 cents a minute, billed to the caller`s phone.
The Swiss Tourist Office receives reports from 12 major ski areas on Mondays and Thursdays. A taped report (212-757-6336) provides snow depths, lifts and a weather outlook.
The Austrian Tourist Office also offers a recorded message (212-944-6917) with information about 22 major resorts and six glacier ski areas. The tape is updated on Mondays and Wednesdays. The information is provided by the ski resorts.
