25 Types of Snow

NEW TO WINTER SPORTS?

We have listed some of our favorite terms to describe snow. Can you believe there are so many ways to describe different types of snow?

Snow will be different every day you ski! No matter where you ski, the altitude or latitude you ski in, and even the time of day you ski. There are many factors that can change snow and it is both fun and helpful to know some of the lingo. Here are some of our favorites.

Have FUN talking about and exploring different SNOW!

25 terms that describe snow:

Ball Bearings: Little firm balls of snow.

Bluebird Snow:  A sunny, cloudless morning after a night of snowfall.

Cold Smoke: Light floating crystals that follow skiers in fresh powder.

Corduroy:  A common slang term for the grooves found on a recently groomed trail created by a grooming machine. Called as such for the obvious resemblance to the fabric.

Corn Snow: Springtime snow; the repeated melting and refreezing of the snow results in corn-sized icy snow crumbs.

Crud: A by-product of skiers cutting up un-groomed powder, often found at the sides of the piste. Skiing crud is hard work. It involves navigating your way through alternating snow consistencies that may have become icy, bumpy, or remained soft and fluffy.

Crust: Refers to a frozen layer either covering softer snow or buried under a fresh dusting of snow.

Death Cookies: Slang term for the cookie-sized chunks of ice formed by grooming and snowmaking.

Dump: Slang term for an epic snowfall of fresh powder; a t-shirt with the staple slogan, "I love big dumps" can be found in many ski tourist towns.

Dust Over Crust: A fresh dusting of snow, more than 2inches deep, over a frozen layer of groomed snow or hard-pack snow.

Fast Snow: Groomed old snow on a cold day (below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0 degrees Celsius).

Fresh Snow: After a snowstorm.

Freshie:  Untouched areas of fresh snowfall; typically found in the morning.

Granular Surface:  A term for snow that has been packed down and possibly groomed; definitely not fresh powder, but instead countless tiny pellets of ice and worn-out snow.

Groomed Snow:  A pattern on the snow made by a machine, the pattern is also known as corduroy and widely regarded as a good surface on which to ski or ride.

Liquid Snow:  Rain

Man-Made Snow:  Made by snowmaking machines pumping water droplets at high speed through a condenser, rather than naturally falling from the sky. Natural snow has a complex crystalline structure whereas snow from snow machines is simply frozen fragments.

Mash Potatoes: A slang term for wet, lumpy, and heavy snow.

Packed Powder:  Term used to describe relatively new snow that has been groomed or ridden over repeatedly and thus is harder than powder.

POW: Short/slang for powder.  

Powder:  Fresh, dry, and lightweight non-groomed snow that for many is the holy grail of skiing and snowboarding.

Slow Snow: Groomed runs on a sunny warm day (above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees Celsius) can make fresh or man-made snow slow, maybe even sticky.

Slush: Snow that is often found during the spring that is wet and sloppy because of warm temperatures (above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees Celsius) and sun exposure.

Sugar: Countless tiny pellets of ice and worn-out snow.