New for the 13/14 season, we’ve introduced a new snow stake cam to help give our guests more transparency on our morning snow reports. Each day, we report the snow totals on each of our three peaks (Dercum, North Peak and Outback). Our new snow stake cam at our North Peak shows live feeds and time-lapses for guests to see in 2 hour to seasonal increments.

This morning we had an erroneous measurement on the North Peak snow stake camera. Now reflected on our homepage is a correction to a 2″ measurement for the last 24 hours. We love the transparency that the snow stake offers our snow reporting, and the public conversation today helped alert us to the misread and put in motion our correction.

 

Keystone Snow Stake FAQs

How do you clear the snow stakes?
Keystone: There’s an automatic system that clears the stake at 5:45 a.m.

How do you measure?
Keystone: We take the average across the snow stake. You’ll notice that sometimes the snow will be higher on one end. To report an accurate number, we take the average across the stake at all of our locations.

How do you report your snow totals?
Keystone: With three mountains back to back to back, Keystone Resort is a vast ski and snowboard resort which makes reporting snowfall very difficult since snow totals can vary across the area. We’re committed to reporting our snow accurately and transparently.

What happens when there’s a mistake?
Keystone: Mistakes happen. We’re humans and we also work with complex databases and computer systems. We strive for accuracy every day, for every report and have checks and balances in place. There have been situations when someone has mistyped a # or where a natural occurrence like wind or snow drifts have resulted in an inaccurate reading. We’ve been quick to correct these mistakes and re-issue our snow report.

If you ever have a question, concern or notice an inconsistency, please contact us immediately.

Contact info news@vailresorts.com.

What time do you report your snow totals?
Keystone: Before 5 a.m., usually sometime between 4:45 and 5 a.m. MT. The average # on the stake is recorded into our database which then automatically delivers this # to our websites, our email system and to third party websites.

Where do you measure?
Keystone: The official snow stake is located at mid-mountain on North Peak, our second mountain.

Who’s responsible for checking the snow stakes?
Keystone: Our 24/7 Vail Resorts communications center team reads the official snow stake between 4:45 and 5 a.m. The Vail communications center confirms the snow total #s with ski patrol in the morning. The stakes are cleared between 5:40 and 5:45 a.m. And then the stakes are read again at 4 p.m to track the overnight snow #s.

Why is your settled base reported as 18” at the beginning of the season?
Keystone: Following industry standards, we report a base of 18″ when the majority of skiable terrain is on manmade (snowmaking) snow. It is assumed that at least 18″ of artificial snow is present on these trails even when the natural snow base is less than 18″. Even in early season, ski patrol still records natural settled base for our records, but when most of the open terrain is on manmade snow, we report 18″ since that is what our guests will be skiing on.