I really got sick of over embellished snow reports only to turn up at a mountain for wind and rain. Snow stakes make it MUCH harder for a ski resort to lie, that’s for sure.

Understand this: A snow stake is not a 100% reflection of conditions at a resort. It is still exposed to natural factors and remember that resorts are large and snow amounts may vary greatly due to altitude and location.

Vail Resorts has a great FAQ about their snow stakes that you can read here.

When snow stakes lie – in a bad way

I remember being in Lake Tahoe a few seasons back and it wasn’t the best of seasons. Then came the storm we were all waiting for! I awoke excitedly to look at the Northstar snow stake and couldn’t believe my eyes! It was almost buried entirely. Several feet of snow had fallen and off we went to the resort.

Keep in mind here that we were staying at lake level and when I looked out the window, I saw nothing but rain. Although this slowed my enthusiasm, it didn’t stop it entirely as I have seem plenty of days where it rains below the resort base, but is pounding with snow on the resort itself.

We arrived in the Northstar carpark and it was still raining. Hard. There was very little snow on the ground.

By the time we got to the summit, we were soaking wet and getting very cold. The snow had fallen on only the top few hundred feet of vertical and was as heavy as quick sand. Sure, there was loads of it, but it really wasn’t a good day at all. Bummer. The snow stake had lied.

When snow stakes lie – in a good way

I was staying in Vail last season and the weather report was calling for 2-3 inches of snow. Hardly worth busting yourself to get first lifts, but powder none the less.

When I got up in the morning, the snow stake (located at Blue Sky Basin) showed a little over four inches of snow. Ok, things are looking good. That’s worth getting out to the lifts a little quicker.

By the time I arrived at the lifts, the official reports were saying 5 inches of snow, which got me even more excited!

What ensued from this point was nothing short of incredible. Although I inspected the snow stake only minutes before departure, what it didn’t show was how heavy the snow was going to fall during the day. Nor did it show the fact that the back bowls had already received more snow. A lot more snow.

I stood atop Sun Down Bowl and noticed something strange. It was dead flat and untouched. Enough snow had fallen to cover every single bump. That’s got to be more than four inches of snow.

I charged into my first turn expecting boot deep powder and almost buried myself in the lightest, driest Colorado pow I had ever experienced! I was so excited that I started yelling and screaming like a school girl (don’t tell anyone), which was awesome until the snow that was so deep was blowing straight into my face and I was sucking in powder rather than doing that important thing called breathing. Just incredible.

When the day was done, a total of 20 inches of light, dry, blower powder had fallen and it was easily one of the best days of my life. The locals call it a “sleeper” powder day. No one expects it and no one is on the mountain. You better believe it was busy the day after though!

Again. The snow stake had lied.

Here is the snow report video we shot on that particular day…