Their tagline is may the powder be with you. There’s been some buzz about this interactive Web map of late. Interestingly, yesterday it had some widget type of things on the bottom of the page, but today they don’t seem to be there. (The screenshot is from yesterday.)
The main point of this map is to show the relative snow conditions of various ski resorts in Colorado, as indicated by graduated circle sizes. It also reports on their “Freshy Factor” via mouseover, which is explained in their About tab as being a combination of snow reports, social media input, and other things such as the time of day when the snow fell/is falling. There appears to be a real-time precipitation layer shown on the map as well.
It’s simple, it looks good, and if their conditions factor, ahem…Freshy Factor, has credence, it’ll become a much visited site.
#1 by Brian Kelly on February 8, 2012 - 11:52 am
Very cool and very inspiring. I’m trying to something similar for mountain biking at http://oktoride.com/. The site is still in very early stages as I’m still just starting to learn about GIS and how to harness its power.
I hope to have something equivalent to the “Freshy Factor” though for mountain biking trails it would like be a “Dryness Factor”. Perhaps it is a bit of a lofty idea but I love the idea of rider reports and precipitation data eventually helping riders find the perfect place to ride where ever they are.
#2 by Gretchen on February 8, 2012 - 12:18 pm
Brian – Neat!
#3 by Sean on February 8, 2012 - 1:17 pm
Hi Gretchen – nice post. If you click on the graduated symbol for the resort it will reveal the box widgets with the indicators. Hope that helps.
#4 by Gretchen on February 8, 2012 - 1:22 pm
Sean – Good to know, thanks.
#5 by Chris on February 8, 2012 - 1:56 pm
Yeah we’re focusing on some usability aspects of the site right now. Hopefully everything will become obvious and have a good flow
#6 by Gretchen on February 8, 2012 - 2:31 pm
Chris – Well, the fact that I didn’t realize that those boxes at the bottom pop up only when you click on a circle might mean something regarding usability…or it might just mean that I wasn’t paying enough attention, which is entirely possible too.