Ski area snow stakes used to have one simple purpose: Usually tucked away in secret locations, they were the measuring tools that ski patrollers checked first thing every morning so that the resort could report whether there was any new snow, and if so, how much.
The internet has changed that, of course. Now, snow stakes often serve as marketing tools, even celebrities, for some resorts. Most have webcams focused on them around the clock so powder hounds can see for themselves how much snow has fallen. Several have time-lapse capability.
At the other extreme is Arapahoe Basin’s ultra-humble snow stake, which actually has no stake at all, and is decidedly old school in keeping with the vibe of a 77-year-old ski area nicknamed The Legend. It doesn’t have a measuring device, just a wooden A-Basin logo attached to a platform. It’s so anti-fancy, in fact, that it didn’t look, to The Denver Post, like it had been set up yet for the season — even though A-Basin was the first area in the state to open this year, as usual.
“Actually, that’s just it,” said Arapahoe Basin spokeswoman Shayna Silverman. “Our snow stake is more abstract and does not have numbers. You’ll see everything we report online, though.”
Two Colorado ski areas have redone their snow stakes this year to add some real personality.
Winter Park’s new snow stake is a work of art depicting four well-known mountains to the north, east, south and west of the resort — Longs Peak, Parry Peak, Byers Peak and Mount Blue Sky (formerly known as Mount Evans), along with rivers draining their snowmelt. It is a companion piece with a similar work of art that has been erected at the summit of the mountain. Both were created in partnership with Native and Indigenous artists to honor those peoples who summered for centuries where skiers play in the snow now.
“It’s a level of appreciation for those who came before us,” said Winter Park spokeswoman Jen Miller. “There’s something to feeling a sense of awe and wonder and connection when you’re standing at the top of a snowy mountain. There were Native and Indigenous people long before us that honored and respected the land and are better at articulating that sense of awe and appreciation. It’s really just honoring our true history and heritage beyond the ski resort.”
At Sunlight Mountain Resort on the western slope, the new snow stake has been designed to honor a unique aspect of Sunlight’s history. At the end of this season, Sunlight plans to retire the 70-year-old Segundo lift, the oldest operating lift in Colorado. Segundo began operation on Aspen Mountain in 1954 and was relocated to Sunlight in 1973. It has distinctive lattice-work steel towers, common in the middle of the last century, that remind some of childhood erector-set projects. The five-foot base of the new snow stake is designed to emulate those lift towers and was built at Conklin Welding and Fabrication in Glenwood Springs.
“We looked at snow stakes online and just felt like most were fairly generic,” said Sunlight spokesman Matt Ericksen. “Besides that, we really wanted to include some members of the community that have a ton of artistic talent. We’re a community, local-based mountain. We wanted to include some of those community members that have the ability to create a really special and neat snow stake for us. We’re also trying to pay homage to the Segundo lift.”
Barring unforeseen complications, the ancient two-person Segundo lift will be replaced next summer by what used to be Arapahoe Basin’s old Lenawee triple chair. For the past year, its parts have been stored in the maintenance area at Sunlight.
Here’s a peek at some of the more notable snow stakes around Colorado:
Aspen, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk: Snow stakes at all four Aspen Snowmass areas have wooden backgrounds with the Aspen Ski Company’s aspen-leaf logo and the name of the area in black letters, along with a large Hublot clock, a 24-hour measurement on one side and storm-total measurement on the other. They all have a time-lapse function, so you can see when the most recent snowstorm came through, but you have to click on the arrow to the left of the live images to access the time-lapse.
Beaver Creek: The Beav’s Snow Cam gets high marks for two features: It has a time-lapse function, and it has renderings of two six-inch chocolate cookies flanking the 24-inch measuring stick. If you don’t understand why those cookies are there, you’ve never had Beaver Creek’s famous free, freshly baked cookies at the end of the day. The snow stake used to have a clock and thermometer and they will be reinstalled soon.
Breckenridge: A simple 24-inch ruler marked off in two-inch increments, but like Beaver Creek, it has a 24-hour time-lapse function.
Cooper: Simply a three-foot pole marked off in two-inch increments, topped with the Cooper logo.
Copper Mountain: Copper’s sassy snow stake uses a little attitude to dress up its 18-inch measuring board. It has Copper’s logo displayed next to inches 15 through 18. It says “MEGA” next to inches 12-13, “DEEP” next to inches 9-10, “DUMPING” next to the 6-inch mark, “POW DAY” next to the 4-inch mark and “FRESHIES” at 2 inches.
Eldora: This one is actually quite attractive, but it’s also difficult to describe, so we’ll let Eldora spokesman Sam Bass handle it. “It’s a laser-cut metal disc, with our tree logo cut out of the middle, and an amber-colored translucent acrylic disc mounted on the back with inches marked on the tree’s trunk.” Nailed it.
Keystone: Here we see a dial thermometer, a smaller circular clock within the thermometer face, an 18-inch measuring stick and a red Keystone logo.
Loveland: Another simple approach: a large plaque incorporating Loveland’s logo and a 20-inch measuring bar.
Powderhorn: A 16-inch ruler with limbs on both sides indicating snow depth in two-inch increments.
Purgatory: A two-foot measuring stick with a large Purgatory logo at the top.
Steamboat: There are two webcams. The Mid Mountain Snow Cam is located at Thunderhead and records Steamboat’s official snowfall. A Champagne Powder Cam is located at the summit of Sunshine Peak and isn’t regarded as the resort’s official snow measurement because of its higher elevation of 10,384 feet. The Mid Mountain Snow Cam is located at 9,080 feet.
Telluride: The “Powcam” is located in Prospect Basin. Like many snow cams in the state, it is set up to reflect 24-hour snow totals and the total snowfall from multi-day storms.
Vail: Another snow stake that measures 24-hour snowfall and storm totals with a time-lapse function. It has a clock and a thermometer. Measurement marks in one-inch increments are set against a photo of a blue sky over the back bowls.
