Overview

Outside of the United States, ski resort statistics like elevation (including base and summit) and vertical drop are typically reported in meters. Ski area size is based on the length of trails (known as pistes in Europe) in kilometers. New snow and snow depth are reported in centimeters, temperature in degrees celsius, and wind speed in kilometers per hour. Knowing how to use these metric units is extremely helpful for adventure and vacation planning. In addition, metric is used throughout the sciences, including meteorology and weather forecasting. After completing this learning activity, you should be able to convert ski-resort statistics, snow reports, and temperature and wind from metric to U.S. units and be more comfortable with the information provided in metric units.

Instructions

Utilize the information located in the Scenario and Key Concepts to answer the questions located in this activity. You may refer to your textbook and notes to help you work through the assigned questions if desired. You will have two attempts to complete this activity. The highest grade will automatically be recorded. Once you have submitted your activity for a second time, you will be able to see the correct answers. Discuss with your instructor if you have questions about your answers or feedback.

Activity is due Sunday, by 11:59 p.m. MT

Submission and Assessment Guidelines

You will complete the quiz associated with this scenario within Canvas. For help on how to take a quiz in Canvas, review how do I take a quiz.
This learning activity is worth 10 points toward your final grade.

Scenario

You are planning a ski vacation to Europe, but website information is provided entirely in metric units. One resort that has captured your attention is Ski Arlberg, which interconnects the villages of St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben, Lech, Zürs, Warth, and Schröcken. It appears to be the largest ski area in Austria according to skiresort.info, but as illustrated in the graphic below, all the resort statistics are in metric. For example, the base elevation is 1,300 meters, summit elevation 2,811 meters, vertical drop 1,511 meters, and length of pistes 303 kilometers.

Statistics for Ski Arlberg including base elevation (1300 m), summit elevation (2811 m), vertical drop (1511 m), and piste length (303 km)
Figure 1. Statistics for Ski Arlberg from skiresort.info.

You are especially interested in skiing the Run of Fame, an all-day ski circuit through Ski Arlberg that begins in St. Anton and goes to Warth and back. It involves skiing 85 kilometers of pistes and 18,000 vertical meters:

You are also interested in riding the Valluga II cable car and skiing from the summit of the 2,811 meter high Valluga or just enjoying the views of western Austria on a nice day:

To gain a better feel for these altitudes and distances, you've decided to convert them to U.S units (apologies to students who are comfortable with metric, but yes, you'll do this too!). You've also decided to convert some snow and weather observations from Ski Arlberg to better understand measurements in metric.

Key Concepts

a. Units

Below are the typical units used outside and in the United States for resort statistics, snow reports, and weather conditions.

Units of Measurement
	Outside the U.S. (Metric)	U.S.
Elevation	Meters (m)	Feet (ft)
Area size	Length of pistes in kilometers (km)	Acres
Vertical drop	Meters (m)	Feet (ft)
New snow	Centimeters (cm)	Inches (in)
Total snow depth (a.k.a. "base")	Centimeters (cm)	Inches (in)
Temperature	Degrees Celsius (˚C)	Degrees Fahrenheit (˚F)
Wind speed	Kilometers per hour (km/h)	Miles per hour (mph) or knots

b. Converting Elevations and Distance

To convert from meters to feet we use:

feet = meters x 3.28

or to convert from feet to meters we use:

meters = feet / 3.28

To convert from kilometers to miles we use:

miles = kilometers x 0.62

or to convert from miles to kilometers we use:

kilometers = miles / 0.62

c. Converting New Snow and Snow Depth

To convert from centimeters to inches we use:

inches = centimeters / 2.54

or to convert from inches to centimeters we use:

centimeters = inches x 2.54.

d. Converting Temperature and Wind Speed

Temperature and wind speed in Ski Arlberg are reported in degrees Celsius and kilometers per hour, respectively. To convert from degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit we use: