hawk37:
I always thought the published altitudes were minimums, and if the pilot were to choose to descend on the intermediate segment to 2500 feet, level off, and intercept the vnav slope from 2500 ft then that was perfectly fine and atc did not need to be told. Exceptions of course it the chart says an "at" altitude.
Was this ever the case aterpster?
You are correct and that still is the case much of the time. But, the FAA includes the requirement in the cold temp procedure, because it has to cover 100% of the cases, especially where there is a mandatory altitude. The temperature correction would take precedence over the mandatory altitude.