nice photo of the snowmaking at SS that has been dominating the DCSki homepage for days. I understand this a pure PR shot as the slopes have no snow and the temps will be in the upper 50s the next couple of days. We've had discussions that SS is not a popular day destination for most in the dc area, but it continues to dominate dcski. The site looks more and more like crap I get mailed to me from SS (they actually seem a bit desperate with the amount of PR they do).

Whats up Scott? Fess up. Is this a commercially driven site??? Come on fess up. Call it DCSki sponsored by SS.
What ever happened to trying to communicate with the Nuttings???? Wisp certainly has PR folks but you choose to showcase SS over Wisp. Why??? Come on fess up. Even your new weather page seems to bias temps lower for SS than other locations compared to other weather sources for the same areas. As the season is almost upon us I think this site is not doing what it reports to do. You are losing credibility with your continued showcasing of SS at the expense of lack of trying to cover closer resorts.

Wolverine,
I think most of the other members here would agree with me. If you have it in that much for Scott and this forum, then don't post here! These biased, personal attacks to the forum and Scott are unecessary and unwanted

-Warren-

Agreed Warren. Has it occurred to anyone that Scott and DCSki may just be trying to express the same excitement for the upcoming season that most people who frequent this site have. What do you want on the mainpage, a picture of the mud at Timberline or Seven SPrings. Perhaps a pic of chairs laying in a field at liberty. Snowshoe is the only resort that is reasonably close to DC that has realistically fired up the guns so far, and they have a nice shot to prove it. It should be the main pic on DCSki until next wednesday, when they OPEN. Then i want another snowshoe shot. I will give credit to cataloochie, who has opened for a couple weekends, but lets be realistic the people on this forum care way more about SS than cataloochie for purely geographic reasons. I don't know why this forum is everyone's public bashing grounds for SS. They have done more for skiing in this region than any other resort, giving us at least one spot with a true destination/western feel. Fun bars, fun restaurants, great lodging options.......sure it's a little crowded, but thats because it's the best total package. Best ski area...arguably not, best total package.....without a doubt. Keep the pics comin Scott and Dcski

I think you're out of order Wolverine. I side with ndskier in that Snowshoe is the first one to blow snow to any extent. Not only that but as was mentioned in another thread they are they only ones who get off their arse and issue press releases. 7 Springs has lagged in that for years. I'm pretty sure that as soon as other resorts start making some snow they'll be on here too. I'm not even close to a Snowshoe fan but you have to give them credit where it's due.

Wolverine...one thing you need to know (and was discussed previously on this forum) is that resorts submit this information to Scott to be posted. He doesnt make it up. Other mid-atlantic resorts arent as quick to send Scott any pics or data thus he has nothing to put up. Snowshoe is always sumbitting him pics and other information so thats what he puts up.

You know Wolverine, I usually don't lose my temper, but your post takes the cake. Especially since I have spent every waking hour in the past few weeks (outside of my "real" job) exhaustively researching 34 resorts, adding five new resorts, updating resort profiles, adding dozens of events and Bargain Tracker entries, completely rewriting a weather parsing engine, completely rewriting a ski condition report engine... I'm frankly burned out but I've been working my butt off to get everything ready for the ski season. And then I read your post.

The advertising revenue DCSki brings in barely covers the fixed costs. (In early years, it didn't come close.) What's left over amounts to something WELL below minimum wage for the hours I put into the site. Thankfully, I have a "real" job unrelated to DCSki that puts food on my table. Not only would I find it unconscionable to bias coverage towards advertisers, but there would be no incentive for me to do that. I have lost advertisers in the past by refusing to give them special coverage, and that was perfectly fine with me. I make a huge personal sacrifice to operate DCSki, and the intent is to provide an independent resource that doesn't otherwise exist. I'll be honest and say that each year, I have to strongly evaluate whether it's worth the personal sacrifice I make. This year, I came closer than I ever have to concluding that the sacrifice wasn't worth it. Since DCSki doesn't bring in much money, it's never a financial consideration.

You're accusing me of biasing Snowshoe's weather data? My data comes directly from the National Weather Service. You can go right to NOAA and enter Snowshoe, WV:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?CityName=Snowshoe&state=WV&site=RLX

You'll get conditions and forecast data identical to what DCSki shows (although I only sync with them several times per hour; they may update more frequently). I don't modify the data one bit for Snowshoe or any other resort. I'm not a meteorologist.

Why is Snowshoe on the front page right now? Because they're making snow, and they sent me a photo of it. No other resort in DCSki's coverage area has started making snow. When Cataloochee was making snow a couple weeks back, I had a photo of Cataloochee on the front page, even though DCSki's coverage doesn't extend that far south. When there was measurable natural snow in late October, I had a front page photo from the Canaan Valley region, and posted an article including photos from Wisp, Snowshoe and the Canaan Valley region.

In each year that DCSki held a reader survey, Snowshoe was rated the #1 resort in almost every category. Usually by a large margin. You may not like Snowshoe, but it is a very popular resort with DCSki readers, and the vast majority of regular DCSki readers do not post to the forums. Pre-season snowmaking photos always get people excited about the ski season. And, as I've said in the past, it's difficult for me to spontaneously create photographs. If resorts aren't taking photos or sending photos to me, I can't force them to.

No one's forcing you to read DCSki. If you don't like the site, don't visit.

Amen to Scott's response. I visit the site all the time and there is clearly no bias towards the Shoe. Scott, I am glad to know that you did not shut down the site this year. I appreciate and look forward to reading the posts as this is one of the only places you can get good feedback from local skiers as to the conditions and improvements at local resorts. The feedback from your site including posts come without the spin that the resorts put on what's happening, obviously they are biased. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks to scott for his hard work in creating and maintaining DCSki. Don't let all the negative energy get you down!

Seems like this is just another rant by the greasy relative to a weasel. Happens pretty much every year. Must come from living on a diet of dead animals.

Scott, why not just delete that crap and elimiate the account with it. Prevent re-registering by using a IP address check. There's no reason to tolerate abuse on your site and it certainly adds nothing to the discussion.

Brad, where's that shotgun of yours when we need it?

Scott,
I think I can speak for all of us (except for Wolverine ) by saying we REALLY appreciate your hard work. I would HATE to see this site and forum go away

Just ignore that one SMALL bit of negativity and keep up the great work!

-Warren-

Ditto Scott. You'd think pretty much everyone would be happy with a picture of snowmaking in mid-November at a mid-Atlantic resort on the front page. As Abe Lincoln said... (to paraphrase) you can't please everyone. Oh well.

Keep up the good work!

I was up near Roundtop a week or so ago and it was close to 80 degrees out. Its boring and sad to see pictures of empty slopes

I want to see pictures of resorts that are making ACTUAL SNOW. Who gives a rats ass where it is? Would you rather a rotating picture of the rest of the local areas with 60 degrees and rain out? Wow, how interesting, another barren resort with no snow and a rainy picture. THRILLS!

Scott please keep up all the hard work and know that it is appreciated by all.

Kids are reading this negative wolverine-type crap.. so let's delete this thread already. Remove Wolverine's capability to post for a year. Wolverine can lurk all he want.

If I were Scott, oh man ..

Wonder why the PR folks at SS do not push for a live web cam?