Warm weather generated adverse conditions?

[Torsten]

Could you please help me make sense of the following sentence:

Contrary to the expectations of the ski resort manager, the warm weather generated adverse conditions for a profitable weekend.

Somehow it's illogical that the ski resort manager thought the warm weather would generate profitable conditions for his business, isn't it?
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[prezbucky]

The term "warm" might be relative here:

If "warm" means 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit, then yeah, those are ideal winter conditions -- cold enough to keep things frozen, but not so cold that people struggle with the cold.

If "warm" is applied thusly, then we can assume that the manager is used to temperatures far colder than these "warm" winter conditions. I know what he means if that is the case.
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[Fan of Arabian horses]

Hi Torsten!

I think, the warm weather was what was contrary to the ski resort managers?expectations, not the adverse conditions for a profitable weekend. In that sense the sentence seems a bit distorted, doesn?t it?

[prezbucky]

Maybe it got just a bit warmer than expected... like 35-40 degrees, at which point snow melts (of course).

Slush = difficult skiing and painful falls
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[Tamara]

Hi

[Torsten]

I was thinking of the weather conditions in Europe during the last two to three months. Temperatures way above 0 degrees Celsius which has been a pain for any business person who is somehow involved in winter tourism.
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[Yankee]

To me, the sentence would be logical simply by removing the word 'the' before the words 'warm weather':

Contrary to the expectations of the ski resort manager, warm weather generated adverse conditions for a profitable weekend.

To me that would mean that the manager was expecting neither warm weather nor the adverse conditions associated with warm weather.

Amy

[Tamara]

[prezbucky]

This could be written out more fully:

The ski resort manager expected warm weather to generate good conditions for a profitable weekend. Contrary to the expectations of the ski resort manager, warm weather generated adverse conditions for a profitable weekend.

--

If the ski resort manager had expected cold weather -- in other words, if warm weather itself had surprised him or her -- it should have been written along these lines:

The ski resort manager had expected cold weather and positive conditions for a profitable weekend. Contrary to the expectations of the ski resort manager, warm weather came, generating adverse conditions for a profitable weekend.

---------

As the sentence is written at the top of this topic, the ski resort manager expected warm weather and thought that it would lead to a profitable weekend. He/she is not surprised at the warm weather, but at the negative financial results fomented by it.

Based on the sentence -- as it is written -- we can only be certain that the ski resort manager thought that warm weather would bring a profitable atmosphere.
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[Torsten]

OK, to sum up your suggestions, we are talking about a ski resort manager who lives and works in a region where the temperatures are usually quite low and the weather often too cold to enjoy skiing, etc. Now the weather forecast is saying the temperatures will go up a bit but it still will be frosty enough for the snow to stay. So the manager is hoping that more tourists will come to the resort over the weekend?
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[prezbucky]

Yes, that's exactly what I think.

Let's look at it from the beginning (chronologically)...

Take out "Contrary to", change "expectations" to "expectation", replace the comma with "is that", and change "generated" to "will generate":

Start: The expectation of the ski resort manager is that the warm weather will generate positive conditions for a profitable weekend.

**What happened? Profitability sucked.**

Finish: Contrary to the expectations of the ski resort manager, the warm weather generated adverse conditions for a profitable weekend.
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[Torsten]

Tom, how about asking Mr. Bradleigh Chester-Nottinghamshire what he thinks of this sentence? Are you still in contact with him?
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[prezbucky]

He's currently driving home from work.... busy fussing over the billboards.
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[prezbucky]

...and now he's home, sipping his brandy and smoking his pipe whilst seated in front of the hearth.
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[Torsten]

Does he have a TV set and access to the Internet? If so, we could invite him to discuss English grammar questions with us here on the forum...
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