Frequently Asked Questions

The SnowSure Score is a 0-100 rating that represents overall skiing conditions at a resort. It combines multiple factors including current snow depth, recent snowfall, forecast predictions, temperature, and historical patterns. A higher score means better conditions.

We analyze data from 7 weather models (ECMWF, GFS, GEM, JMA, ICON, Météo-France, Met Norway), combine it with current resort conditions and 30 years of historical data, then use AI to generate a single 0–100 score. The composite weights five signals: recent snowfall (the largest factor), the 14-day forecast, season-to-date snowfall, performance versus 30-year historical norms, and current base depth.

Scores 80+ are Outstanding conditions. 60-79 is Superb. 50-59 is Excellent. 40-49 is Good. 30-39 is Solid. 20-29 is Fair. Below 20 indicates Limited coverage - consider other options. Scores can vary significantly by region and time of year.

SnowSure Scores are updated hourly based on the latest weather data and forecasts. Current conditions (temperature, recent snowfall) are refreshed every hour.

We aggregate data from 7 leading global weather models: ECMWF (European Centre), GFS (NOAA/US), GEM (Canadian), JMA (Japan), ICON (German), Météo-France, and Met Norway. Each model has strengths in different regions.

No single weather model is always correct. By showing forecasts from multiple models, you can see where they agree (higher confidence) and where they differ (more uncertainty). Our AI combines them for the best prediction.

Snow forecasts are most reliable within 3-5 days. 7-day forecasts are useful for planning but become less accurate. 14-day forecasts show general trends but should be taken as rough estimates.

Mountain weather varies significantly with altitude. We provide separate forecasts for base elevations (village level) and summit elevations (top of lifts). Summit areas typically receive more snow but experience harsher conditions.

SnowSure is a US company with global coverage: 500+ resorts in the United States and Canada, the Alps (France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy), Japan, and the Southern Hemisphere (Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia), including year-round glaciers. We are not a US-only app. The same seven-model ensemble and public accuracy scorecard run on Aspen, Chamonix, Niseko, and Cardrona.

SnowSure is a US company with global coverage: 500+ resorts in the United States and Canada, the Alps (France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy), Japan, and the Southern Hemisphere (Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia), including year-round glaciers. We are not a US-only app. The same seven-model ensemble and public accuracy scorecard run on Aspen, Chamonix, Niseko, and Cardrona.

We use a combination of automated weather stations, resort-reported data, and satellite-based snow measurements. For some resorts, we estimate snow depth based on weather model data when direct measurements aren't available.

Not all resorts have weather stations or report conditions consistently. We do our best to estimate missing data, but accuracy may be lower for resorts without direct measurements.

Yes! Contact us with the resort name and location, and we'll work on adding it. Priority is given to resorts with good data availability.

Yes — the core product stays free: snow reports, the 7-day forecast, alerts on 3 resorts in My Mountains, elevation hourly, webcams, avalanche products (US, Canada, Europe), Local Snow, the El Niño outlook on every resort, each mountain's forecast accuracy record, five Ask Surely questions a day, and the widget, Apple Watch and storm Live Activities on those 3 mountains in My Mountains. SnowSure Pro is optional: $39.99 per year (Founding Membership: $29.99 a year for the first 1,000, held for as long as you stay subscribed). Pro adds the 14-day forecast and all seven models side by side on every resort, Getting There on every resort, offline forecasts, unlimited My Mountains with alerts, unlimited Ask Surely, and the widget, Apple Watch and Storm Live Activities on every mountain you follow. Checkout is at snowsure.ai/pro.

No account is required to view forecasts and scores. Creating a free account lets you build My Mountains and receive powder alerts.

Create a free account, add resorts to My Mountains with the heart, and enable notifications. We'll email you when significant snowfall is forecast.

SnowSure and LuxSki are sister products from Afore. LuxSki focuses on luxury ski hotel bookings, while SnowSure focuses on snow conditions and forecasts. They share weather data but serve different purposes.

Look at the mountain's own season shape rather than the calendar. Plenty of disappointing trips are booked on an assumption — that a resort skis in November because it is a ski resort — when that particular mountain does not reliably get its snow until January. Every SnowSure resort page ranks its months from thirty years of snowfall history (75%) blended with its last verified SnowSure season (25%), scored against that resort's own best month rather than against a snowier neighbour, so a modest hill is not marked down for being modest. Weekly detail comes only from real days in the prior season; no weekly figure is interpolated from a monthly average. Read it with the El Niño analogs for the year you are booking, and you are planning against that mountain's record instead of a guess.

Core snow reports, the 7-day forecast, alerts on 3 resorts in My Mountains, elevation hourly, webcams, avalanche products (US, Canada, Europe), Local Snow, the El Niño outlook on every resort, each mountain's forecast accuracy record, and five Ask Surely questions a day. Home Screen widget, Apple Watch and storm Live Activities: free on your 3 mountains in My Mountains, unlimited with Pro. Storm Watch is free too: every named storm gets its own page, with the why. That does not go away.

The 14-day forecast and all seven models side by side on every resort, Getting There on every resort, unlimited My Mountains with alerts, unlimited Ask Surely, and the widget, Apple Watch and Storm Live Activities on every mountain you follow. Offline forecasts are in the iPhone app.

Pro is $39.99 per year (about $3.33 a month). Founding Membership is $29.99 a year for the first 1,000, held for as long as you stay subscribed.

No. Pro is the same account on the website and the iPhone app. The iPhone app — Watch, widgets, and Live Activities — arrives once App Review clears the first build. Offline forecasts ship with that build. Founding Members get the App Store link before the listing is public.

Apple or Google on the website and the iPhone app. Same email is the same account — no extra SnowSure password.

Web purchases cancel from the receipt Stripe emailed you. iPhone purchases cancel in the App Store. There is no phone tree and no retention offer — one click.

Not automatically. That checkout was a donation, not a subscription. A live Pro or Founding purchase unlocks the plan. If you have a promo code from that period, enter it on the Stripe screen.

OpenSnow is a subscription forecast app built around named meteorologists — Joel Gratz and the Cloudnine team — writing a human call for specific ranges, and it is strongest in the US. If you ski one range and want a forecaster who lives there telling you what they think, that is a genuinely good way to get it, and we do not claim to replace a meteorologist who lives on one range. We live and work in both the USA and Europe, and that shapes SnowSure: the approach is worldwide rather than centred on one continent. 500+ resorts and growing, with ECMWF, GFS, GEM, JMA, ICON, Météo-France and Met Norway shown side by side, a weekly scorecard grading what we forecast against what actually fell at SNOTEL and resort-reported stations, El Niño analogs with the methodology published, road access for the drive in, and Surely, a concierge that cites live data — including over MCP, so ChatGPT and Claude can read the same source. We would reach for SnowSure when you want the spread and the accuracy record in front of you, and the same tools in the Alps or Japan as in Colorado. Pro is $39.99 a year.

Snow-Forecast.com is a long-running global mountain-weather site with model-based forecasts for ski areas worldwide, free to read. It is a fast second opinion and a lot of people sensibly use it that way. SnowSure puts seven models side by side, with a published called-vs-fell scorecard so you can see how the forecast has been doing at your mountain, a 0–100 conditions score, El Niño analogs with the maths shown, and road access for getting there. 500+ resorts and growing. We would reach for SnowSure when you want to know not just what the model says, but how often it has been right lately.

They are both good at what they do, and they are different things. OpenSnow gives you a named meteorologist's call on a range they know well. Snow-Forecast gives you a free, global model view. We built SnowSure for a different question: not just what is forecast, but how much to trust it. SnowSure is also about teaching you to read snow data rather than just handing you a number. A lot of disappointing trips are booked against an assumption — that a resort skis in November because it is a ski resort. We show each mountain's own season shape, from thirty years of snowfall history blended with its last verified season and ranked against its own best month rather than against a snowier neighbour, so you can see that a place peaks in January before you book it for Thanksgiving. The same instinct runs through the weekly accuracy scorecard and the El Niño analogs with their methodology published: you can check the reasoning rather than take our word for it. We live and work in the USA and Europe, so the approach is worldwide — 500+ resorts and growing, seven models side by side, depth in three labelled lanes, road access, and a concierge that cites live data, with MCP so AI assistants can ask the same source. That is our preference, and we would rather earn it on the scorecard than the sales page. The free tier covers daily use; Pro is $39.99 a year.