ger's (2007) snow/terrain preference model

[gerard 6]

…so I was very hard at work on Friday afternoon but suddenly found myself WAY off on a tangent and this is what I ended up with –a combination of cal’s survey and some other previous work. I could probably put this post under ‘silliness’, or perhaps ‘ger is a dork’ . Anyway, here it is:

 

 

It looks complicated but it’s not. You can plot any ski resort in the word on this simple graph to provide an overview of snow vs. terrain. A resort in the top left has good snow and limited terrain. A resort in the bottom right has good terrain and limited snow. I tentatively plotted Niseko, Happo and Whistler as examples. Are you with me so far?

 

You can also model a person’s preference or ‘utility’ for snow vs. terrain. The ‘Utility lines’ are the diagonal thin blue lines. Someone who judges each equally has a neutral preference and a 45% utility line. For simplicity, we'll assume that a person’s utility line (indicating snow vs terrain preference) has a constant slope. Someone who values terrain over snow has a steeper utility line. If snow is more important, the utility line is flat. (That might seem appropriate!) Each point on a single utility line shows the same satisfaction. But if you shift the whole line to the right, one derives increasing satisfaction. I drew two utility lines for ‘db le spud’ (one of our members) to illustrate this. Db prefers steep and interesting terrain over light and deep snow so his U line is steep. When he goes to Niseko, he derives a utility indicated by Utility line A. If he goes to Happo, however, he derives a higher utility, indicated by Utility B, a line of the same slope, but further to the right.

 

If you figure out your own utility line (ie. your preference ratio or slope), and you plot all of the resorts on the graph you can easily choose the resort that maximizes your satisfaction. It's that simple.

[daver 0]

[gerard 6]

[marnix 0]

interesting but there might be more drivers than just these 2.

[thursday 1]

I don't get it. I prefer snow quality and deepness of snow and I'm not neutral, so you're saying my utility line would be shallow meaning I would enjoy it less?

[gerard 6]

 Quote:

Originally posted by Sanno:
interesting but there might be more drivers than just these 2.

Ahhh, Yes! That's the thing about science! We boil down the natural world isoloate the variables and stick it in a box to see what happens. Actually, I read cal's snow questionnaire thread, which is perfectly good, with lots of responses but I thought "I love good snow but it really depends on the terrain too." Hense the "snow/terrain preference model"

 Quote:

I don't get it. I prefer snow quality and deepness of snow and I'm not neutral, so you're saying my utility line would be shallow meaning I would enjoy it less?

Don't worry Thursday, the slope of your curve only describes your preference. Some people would ski on a smaller mountain for better snow. It has nothing to do with judgement, or your skiing ability or anything like that. I, for example, think that both are about equally important, but if pressed to choose, I would say I snow might be more important so I'd put draw my Utility lines at about a 40% angle. Remember, that if your curve shifts parallel to the right/upwards, you get more utility (satisfaction). I'll see if I can post a couple more graphs but I don't have much time before I have to get going.

[thursday 1]

20% utility Niseko Fan

[boardbaka 3]

ger you are a god dam genius! love your work- the stuff of dreams but how does it help me tie my shoelaces lol!