Is Mount Ashland higher than the highest point on the rim of Crater Lake? A friend says Mount Ashland has more snow because it is higher but I think that is bogus. Should I try to finagle a bet over a beer on this one?

— Bob S., Medford

Put that bet down for a big brewski before your friend discovers the mountain of truth, Bob.

First, it is true that Mount Ashland, whose peak rises to 7,533 feet, has 107 inches of snow. Crater Lake only has 102 inches of accumulation, reflecting a poor snow year in the Cascade Range.

But the highest point on the lake rim is Hillman Peak, which reaches 8,151 feet into the sky, making it some 600 feet higher than its ski-slope neighbor to the south.

Still, your friend is correct that Mount Ashland has more snow right now. But he — she? — probably doesn't realize that Crater Lake receives an average 44 feet of snow each year, and that it has been known to snow 12 months out of the year up there.

However, this winter has been peculiar to say the least when it comes to the mountain snowpack. Mount Ashland has more snow than any other ski resort in Western Oregon this winter. Experts say Mount Ashland benefited from the storms that piled snow on the Sierras in California this winter.

But your friend would have been more impressed some 7,700 years ago before Mount Mazama collapsed in a volcanic eruption, creating Crater Lake. The mountain would have been a snow magnet at some 12,000 feet above sea level, scientists estimate.

Send questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by e-mail to youasked@mailtribune.com.