Full Answer
Is powder skiing “hero Snow”?
Learning the right technique is well worth the effort to experience the floating feeling of powder skiing. This term is based more on subjective opinion, rather than specific physical characteristics of the snow. Hero snow is simply easy to ski, so you can “look like a hero” even with flaws in technique.
What does it mean when it says snow packed powder?
When it hasn’t snowed for at least a couple of days, this seems to be the default snow condition for resorts’ morning reports. Packed powder simply means skiers and boarders have packed down the snow, but it’s still fairly soft and skiable.
What are some snow terms?
Snow terms run the gamut from cauliflower to dust to smud, to the traditional powder. If there is a type of snow, there is a term to describe it. Here is a list of terms to describe snow and skiing conditions. Artificial Snow: Snow manufactured by snow cannons or guns, which create tiny granules like hair or grits.
What do you call snow that’s been blown by wind?
And anyone who skis/rides much has certainly spent time on snow referred to by the technical term, “crap.” What about the term sastrugi to describe really horribly ridges of wind-blown than frozen snow?
What does POW mean in snow?
powderPow (Pow-Pow): Light, dry, fluffy snow referred to normally as powder. You can eat this all day long and never get full. Rail: A bar, typically metal, built to be slid up by skiers and snowboarders. Almost exclusively found in a Snow Park and can provide a bit of comedy when novices attempt them.
Why is snow called powder?
Crust – A variety of processes can create a crust, a layer of snow on the surface of the snowpack that is stronger than the snow below, which may be powder snow.
What is pow day in skiing?
Definition: Shorthand for the word 'powder', the term 'pow' is probably one of the most commonly written down words in skiing slang and can be heard on days when the snow is good and the face shots (see point 10) are flowing. “The pow today is absolutely out of this world.”
What is powdered snow called?
Pow Pow or Pow-Fresh: highly desirable powder—loose and fluffy. Packed Powder: Snow that is compressed and flattened either by skier and snowboarder traffic or by grooming equipment. Powder: Fresh snow that is light and fluffy because of its low moisture content.
What is really wet snow called?
Sleet, shown here with a penny for scale, is composed of small, translucent balls of ice. Sleet is often the result of rain that freezes as it falls to the ground. Snowflakes are single ice crystals or clusters of ice crystals that fall from a cloud.
What are the 7 types of snow?
This system defines the seven principal snow crystal types as plates, stellar crystals, columns, needles, spatial dendrites, capped columns, and irregular forms. To these are added three additional types of frozen precipitation: graupel, ice pellets, and hail.
Why do skiers say Bluebird?
In no particular order, here goes: BLUEBIRD DAY – this phrase is typically shouted by excited skiers and snowboarders first thing in the morning when they open the curtains, and typically denotes a cloudless, blue sky day, often after a night of snowfall.
What do skiers call snow?
Freshies – This is the word you want to hear while on ski holiday. You want to be getting freshies in the morning, or all day long. It's another term for fresh powder snow.
What do snowboarders say?
Pow—this is shorthand for snow powder. Ridin'/Cruisin'—Heading down the slopes. Shreddin' the Gnar— Short for riding across the terrain. Steez—This simply means “style.”
What are the 4 types of snow?
Snow comes in five general types: graupel, plates, needles, columns, and dendrites. Each snow type forms in different temperatures and moisture levels.
Can you eat snow?
Scientists have found that new snow can contain weird stuff including pesticides, soot and even nasties such as mercury and formaldehyde. All of these things are found at extremely low levels — which means it's technically safe to eat.
What is chalk snow?
Chalk: Dry, easily edgeable snow that often forms when it's consistently cold and often windy.
What does skier packed powder mean?
skier-packed powder: debatable term resorts give to snow days after the storm, not yet wet or icy, still chalky
How do ski resorts measure snow?
Ski resorts are “all over the map” in the way they measure their snow, Hallen said. The measurement is taken when the snow falls onto a board and is then wiped off. Hallen was unsure how many followed scientific standard.
What is the snow found near the base of the snow gun?
Cauliflower - Snow found near the base of the snow gun, lumpy and ungroomed. Champagne Powder - Snow with extremely low moisture content, often found out West. Cold Smoke - The airy trail of powder that follows skiers in fresh powder. Corduroy - The finely ridged surface of the snow after a snowcat has groomed a trail.
Why is it important to know about the different types of snow?
If you're an avid skier, it's important to know about the different types of snow--and there are a lot. This knowledge can help you interpret the latest ski reports. More importantly, it can help you become a better skier as you learn to recognize the challenges (and joys) that different snow types present.
What is frozen granular snow?
Frozen Granular - Snow with a consistency like sugar. Granular - Snow that has big flakes that resemble rock salt. Grapple - Small hail or sleet that may be rounder and thicker than typical hail or sleet. Hardpack Snow - Firm compressed snow that is almost icy.
What is Zastrugi snow?
Zastrugi - Snow surfaces created by wind blowing into ridges and grooves.
What is the finely ridged surface of the snow after a snowcat has groomed a trail?
Corduroy - The finely ridged surface of the snow after a snowcat has groomed a trail. Corn - Wet and granular, as it melts during the day it may become sloppy and heavy. Crud - Powder that has been heavily skied on and needs to be groomed.
What is wet powder?
Wet Powder - Powder that has been rained on, making it very fast and hard to ski on. Wind Slab - A layer of stiff, hard snow created by deposition of wind-blown snow on the leeward side of a ridge. Yukimarimo - Balls of fine frost formed at low temperature in places like Antarctica during weak wind conditions.
What is the name of the form of precipitation that is created when supercooled droplets of water collect and freeze on?
Snow Pellets - A form of precipitation that is created when supercooled droplets of water collect and freeze on a snowflake. Watermelon - A reddish/pink snow that smells like watermelon, caused by red-green algae. Wet Granular: Very wet snow, often found in spring conditions, that packs easily.
What is the slang term for a skier or snowboarder flying down a slope in an out of?
Bomber: Slang term for a skier or snowboarder flying down a slope in an out of control fashion. Think your sporty friend who is good at everything and skiing in his first week, determined to be as good as you. Brain Bucket: Slang term for a helmet.
What is the holy grail of skis?
The holy grail. Chatter: The vibration of skis or snowboards caused by traveling at high speeds. Excessive chatter reduces contact between the ski and the snow and the ability to stay in total control. Also used for when you gatecrash a mother meeting on the chair lift.
What is twin tip ski?
Twin Tip: Skis where both the tail and tip are turned up at the end, enabling a skier to ski backwards with ease. Originally popular only with freestyle skiers, as the twin tip shape allows for reverse (known as fakie or switch) take-offs and landings off jumps.
What is a skier's zigzag pattern?
Traverse: Skiing across a slope, often in a zigzag pattern, as opposed to straight down; typically done to keep speeds down on steep surface or to cut across a mountain to get to a fresh line of pow pow. Twin Tip: Skis where both the tail and tip are turned up at the end, enabling a skier to ski backwards with ease.
What is an all mountain ski?
All-Mountain Ski: These skis are designed to perform in all types of snow conditions and at most speeds. Also known as the One-ski Quiver.
What is carving on a ski?
Carving: A series of clean turns using the edges of skis or a snowboard. Carving turns can vary from tight turns to giant “S” shaped swoops. If you are a piste skier, this is the art form you want to achieve…. The holy grail. Chatter: The vibration of skis or snowboards caused by traveling at high speeds.
What is a hero snow?
Hero Snow. This term is based more on subjective opinion, rather than specific physical characteristics of the snow. Hero snow is simply easy to ski, so you can “look like a hero” even with flaws in technique.
What is Sierra sludge?
How about “Sierra Sludge”? Similar to “Mashed Potatoes” but heavier. Wet, Heavy, Rough to navigate in.
What does crud mean in skiing?
The definition of crud can vary, but often it just means powder that has been tracked out to an extent. Crud can be fun to ski, but in a sense it’s the opposite of corduroy in that it’s unpredictable. Skiers must keep their balance going back and forth between deep and packed snow. PHOTO: Crud, Eric Wagnon.
What does "packed powder" mean?
Packed powder simply means skiers and boarders have packed down the snow, but it’s still fairly soft and skiable. PHOTO: Packed powder, Eric Wagnon. Corn. This elusive snow is actually very desirable and often falls in the “hero snow” category, but it can be hard to time.
Can you ski in the morning with frozen snow?
Again often found in the spring, snow that has refrozen overnight has an icy glaze on it that makes it tough to edge into with skis. The morning skiing can feel like skittering across a coral reef. In the worst cases, clumps of refrozen snow form “frozen chicken heads.” In this situation, head for the corduroy until the corn arrives later in the day.
Is powder dry or wet?
Powder means dry. It is a lower moisture content. Just because it is deep snow, doesn’t mean it it is puffy, loose powder. Powder is light. Is laundry powder wet? No!
Is powder the easiest snow to ski?
Powder. Fresh snow is held up as the Holy Grail for ski conditions. Especially when the fresh totals go above 6 inches or so, powder is not necessarily the easiest to ski for those who have never experienced such deep snow. Even with today’s wider skis, deep powder requires some technique adjustment, because turns happen inside a 3-D environment ...
What are the sources of snow?
Two additional and locally productive sources of snow are lake-effect (also sea-effect) storms and elevation effects, especially in mountains .
What is snow made of?
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, ...
How does lake effect snow occur?
Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water, warming the lower layer of air which picks up water vapor from the lake, rises up through the colder air above, freezes, and is deposited on the leeward (downwind) shores.
What are the areas affected by lake-effect snow?
These include areas east of the Great Lakes, the west coasts of northern Japan, the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and areas near the Great Salt Lake, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Baltic Sea, and parts of the northern Atlantic Ocean.
Why do railroads use snow sheds?
Railroads employ snow sheds —structures that cover the track—to prevent the accumulation of heavy snow or avalanches to cover tracks in snowy mountainous areas , such as the Alps and the Rocky Mountains.
How does a warm front produce snow?
A warm front can produce snow for a period as warm, moist air overrides below-freezing air and creates precipitation at the boundary. Often, snow transitions to rain in the warm sector behind the front.
Why is the speed of avalanches so low?
The low speed of travel is due to the friction between the sliding surface of the pathway and the water saturated flow. Despite the low speed of travel (~10 to 40 kilometers per hour (6 to 25 mph)), wet snow avalanches are capable of generating powerful destructive forces, due to the large mass, and density.
Why do we see snow?
When light hits something, different wavelengths are absorbed or reflected back to our eyes. As snow falls through the atmosphere to lands on the ground, light reflects off the surface of the ice crystals, which have multiple facets or "faces." Some of the light that hits snow is scattered back out equally into all spectral colors, and since white light is made up of all colors in the visible spectrum, our eyes perceive white snowflakes.
What happens when snow forms?
When snow forms, hundreds of tiny ice crystals accumulate to form the snowflakes we are familiar with. Layers of snow on the ground are mostly air space, as lots of air fills in the pockets between fluffy snowflakes.
How does snow and ice relate to the physical properties of snow?
Understanding the physical properties of snow and ice helps us understand the color of snow. Snow is tiny ice crystals stuck together. If you were to look at a single ice crystal by itself, you would see that it is clear, but snow is different. When snow forms, hundreds of tiny ice crystals accumulate to form the snowflakes we are familiar with. Layers of snow on the ground are mostly air space, as lots of air fills in the pockets between fluffy snowflakes.
How do snowflakes form ice?
Snowflakes accumulate and get packed together to form a solid and mobile layer of ice. Much of the air is squeezed out of the ice layer. Light bends as it enters deep layers of ice, causing more and more of the red end of the spectrum to be absorbed.
Why is snow white when water is clear?
Why is snow white if water is clear? Most of us recognize that water, in pure form, is colorless. Impurities like mud in a river allow water to take on multiple other hues. Snow can take on other hues as well, depending on certain conditions. For instance, the color of snow, when compacted, can take on a blue hue.
How does light reflect off the surface of snow?
As snow falls through the atmosphere to lands on the ground, light reflects off the surface of the ice crystals, which have multiple facets or "faces.". Some of the light that hits snow is scattered back out equally into all spectral colors, and since white light is made up of all colors in the visible spectrum, our eyes perceive white snowflakes.
What are the colors of snow?
Varied Colors of Snow. Blue and white are not the only colors of snow or ice. Algae can grow on snow, making it appear more red, orange, or green. Impurities in the snow will make it appear as a different color, like yellow or brown. Dirt and debris near a road can make snow appear gray or black.
