How to Read a Snow Report

For those of you who do a lot of skiing, snowboarding or other winter sports, you'll understand the importance of checking your local mountain's snow report before heading out to the slopes. If you've never seen a snow report before, it can be a little hard to decipher all of the terms and numbers that one provides, but the basics are actually pretty easy to learn.

Instructions

1. Look at the indicated base depth of the resort's snow. This is the depth of the snow pack and is probably the most important number for skiers and snowboarders to check, as it reflects the basic quality of the resort's ski-able snow (a small base means you'll be likely to encounter rocks or muddy patches on the trails, but a large base means you'll rarely hit any patches of uncovered earth).

2. Check the amount of snow that has fallen during the last 24 hours. This gives you an idea of how much fresh snow will be on the trails, which is good to know if you're a powder junkie or like to be the first one down a newly-covered run.

3. Look for the amount of snow that's fallen in the last 48 hours. Some resorts will list snowfall for the last week, but in either case the recorded amount is important to know because it tells you what kind of weather the mountain's been having of late.

4. Glance at the number of trails and lifts the resort reports as being operational. The number of available runs can change from day to day according to the time of year and the resort's snow-making capabilities, so this is an especially important number of which to make yourself aware.

5. Skim the report for a section labeled "Snow Conditions" or something similar. This is the part of the report where an official from the resort gives a detailed description of the surface snow's characteristics. Along with the base depth and the number of trails open, this is the best way to tell how good the skiing will be, since snow conditions have a large impact on coasting and carving.