Tag: skiing

Extremely hard, smooth, windblown or refrozen snow that has the density and forgiveness of sheet metal. Edges skitter across it; falls on it hurt.

Extremely light, low-density powder snow with a water content around 6–7%, compared to the usual 15%. So dry and airy it feels like skiing through nothing. Trademarked by Steamboat Springs Resort in Colorado, but used generically across ski culture.

Ultra-light, dry powder snow so fine that skiing through it produces a billowing cloud that rises like smoke and hangs in the air. A step beyond champagne powder — the lightest snow that falls.

Small, soft, rounded pellets of snow that form during spring freeze-thaw cycles — warm days soften the surface, cold nights refreeze it, and repeated cycles granulate the snow into corn-kernel-sized beads. When the timing is right, corn snow is some of the most enjoyable skiing of the year.

Snow that has been skied through enough to lose its powder consistency but hasn't been groomed — lumpy, chunky, irregular, and unpleasant to turn in. The aftermath of a powder day, once the crowd has passed through.

Small frozen chunks of ice and compacted snow scattered across a slope, usually the debris from grooming machines, snowmaking, or avalanche activity. They catch edges, jar knees, and appear without warning.

A thin layer of new snow sitting on top of a frozen, hard base. One of the most disappointing conditions in skiing — it looks like a powder day but is not. The fresh snow provides no cushion; the crust beneath does all the talking.

 The exceptionally light, dry, deep powder snow found in the mountains of Japan, particularly Hokkaido and the Japan Alps. Cold air crossing the Sea of Japan picks up moisture that falls as voluminous, low-density snow in quantities that regularly bury entire buildings.

Freshly fallen, uncompacted snow — light, dry, and deep enough to ski or ride through rather than on top of. The substance around which an entire culture of obsession has formed. Powder varies enormously: cold and dry ("blower," "champagne") or warm and dense ("Sierra cement").

Heavy, wet, high-moisture snow characteristic of California's Sierra Nevada. Dense enough to build excellent base layers but exhausting to ski through. The opposite of champagne powder.