Ha, thanks, it's just a passion for mountain weather and being in the right spot at the right time over a decade ago. People did not believe ski area snow reports, and they still don't most of the time. Since the start of the ski industry in the northeast back in the 1950s, there was optimistic embellishment to sell a product that was very weather dependent. Even if it snowed, or the weather sucked, there's an economic reason to sugarcoat it. And resorts/ski areas did, Stowe included, if not leading the charge back in the day.
The 1980s to the 2000s seemed to be prime time for snow reporting in the northeast to lose trust among skiers/riders. The advent of the internet. No longer was it just print, TV, or radio snowfall. In the 2000s, Snow Reporting had a wake up call once folks started getting on social media and information traveled rapidly among users.
To me, I had always liked western ski area snow reports. They were always matter of fact, snowfall from a designated plot, and were consistent due to avalanche dangers; there's no time to mess around out west with snow and weather observations. But at the same time, its part of the culture on eastern snow reports to be a bit less rigid, so to speak.
Alta's Collins Plot is my favorite out west by far. Automated snowfall readings by sensors every hour that are very accurate, I'd do anything for that technology. It is where Alta records their snowfall every season. It is at 9,500ft, not 11K or 8.5K. Just a representative mid-mountain snowfall. They definitely get more snow up high, but their numbers provide skiers with a consistent value they can develop a familiarity with. You know what the number means for the mountain.
These days with the cheap season pass market and the advent of the Epic, Ikon, etc, even Indy passes, the reason for ski areas to embellish has declined. People are going to come/visit, they already paid for it. The money is gathered up front before the season, you do not need to convince people to come on any given day. You can let them know what they need to know, when deciding if to come or not. Rain, snow, wind, freezing rain, powder or frozen granular. You just report it as fact these days. It's a great trend for eastern skiers and riders.
Even high level marketers in the big ski conglomerates know that being honest and transparent is a positive marketing strategy these days (and the past decade really). Those who write the content are allowed to tell the story as truthfully as they can, which wasn't always the case at many ski areas in the past.
I loved the High Road getting some play in the local newspaper, by the long-time Scribe. Kim Brown's column has been around for a very long time. He started writing as a ski bum way back over a couple decades ago… writing about the ski area news in the local paper and being a skeptic to the old school snow reports. He's got his weekly ski column documenting the last week of skiing at Stowe going on 20+ years? This was in his season recap this week.