After the prediction game is before the prediction game!
The winners of last season's prediction game are:
1st place: maxfree with a deviation of 6.1% wins a Scott airbag
2nd place: chevchelios with a deviation of 7.4% wins a Scott helmet
3rd place: magic spirit with a deviation of 11.1% wins a pair of Scott poles
Congratulations and have fun with your winnings!!!! (If you want to see the complete results table, please contact us at anselm@powderguide.com)
Snowy heights tip game: What's it about?
Every time a "significant" storm brings a decent amount of fresh snow to the Alps, it's well known that Ullr and his oracle give an estimate of the expected new snow totals as PowderAlert. In a PA, not only the amount but also a rough core zone is mentioned. The prediction game is held at a measuring station in the core zone: you predict the amount of fresh snow and then compare who was closest to the actual amount. For each PA, the measuring station, the time period for the prediction, the deadline for submitting a prediction and the initial snow depth are stated. The winner of the betting game is whoever bets the best over the season, of course...
How much snow is the new snow total
The new snow total, i.e. the number in centimetres, is defined as the maximum snow depth minus the initial snow depth - the picture illustrates the whole thing graphically. In this example, the forecast period is 48 hours with an initial snow depth of 75 cm. During these two days it most probably snowed most of the time. In the last few hours it snowed less or not at all, so that the snow cover settled and compacted. The maximum snow depth was 128cm, and this results in a new snow total of 128-75=53cm.
Quota as a measure of deviation
The deviation between the predicted (HN_t) and measured new snow total (HN_m) is defined as the quota Q:
Q = | HN_t - HN_m | / HN_m ,
i.e. the amount of the difference between the prediction and the measurement, normalized to the measurement. This results in the limit values Q = 0 for guessed to the nearest centimeter, Q = 1 for not guessed at all (HN_t = 0), and Q > 1 for completely wrong ... For the deviation percentages, the odds are multiplied by 100.
And how do I win now?
The winner of the day is the one with the lowest odds for the respective tip.
The overall winner at the end of the season is the one with the best five odds from each tip. This means that only the average of the five best daily odds counts for the final result:
In plain language, this means that you don't have to play every tip and can also join the betting game later in the year, because only five count anyway. As this winter is going to be awesome, there will be more than 15 PowderAlerts and prediction games!