Ski Terms and Snow Jobs
Column by Heather Burke March 9, 2008

Reading a ski report these days requires a thesaurus, a degree in snow dialect or at least an acute sense of humor. This season we have had plenty of reports of powder, packed powder, big flakes, epic conditions, and deep base depths.

To the new skier, I imagine this flurry of terms can be confusing. A “dusting” sounds like something you do to clean the house before you hit the slopes, after a stop at the “big dump” with your recycling. Is it better to ski loose frozen granular or corn? Is there a dramatic difference between packed powder and freshly groomed cord?

Sometimes ski resorts speak in code, maybe an attempt to befuddle their alpine audience, or to spin the snow into some irresistible confection like a chef that drizzles sweet red sauce around a brownie and calls it “mousse au chocolate avec couli fraise.”

In ski country, variable conditions could imply that the snow reporter didn’t feel like making the call, or it could indicate that it poured rain and the majority of lifts and trails may not be opening today. Or “variable” could actually mean that it is icy and wind-scoured on top, slushy on the bottom, skinny on natural snow trails, but well-covered on snowmaking runs.

PP is ski-speak for packed powder, while WBLN sounds like a radio station, but is windblown snow. I know a few of these code names from my days in the ski industry. My husband Greg did the snow reports for Smugglers Notch in Vermont almost 20 years ago, and he had a ruler-sized yardstick during some of those “lean snow years.” I recall he reported “negative accumulation” a few times which I believe meant snow is melting fast (but I didn’t dare ask, discussing less than ideal weather with a snow reporter is a slippery slope).

Admittedly, Maine does occasional receive “immature snow.” You rarely see “rain” reported (it’s a four-letter word in the ski biz), but you can crack the code when you see reports of wet snow or NCP: non crystallized precipitation. Meteorologists often call for “mixed precipitation” (sounds like cats and dogs might fall from the sky in a mangy mess).

The Inuit have over 100 terms for snow. Folks in ski country are nearing that whopping winter word count; freshies, flurries, packed powder, talcum powder, loose frozen granular, wet granular, hardpack, hoarfrost, rime, slush, cookie dough, death cookies and boiler plate – these latter two you don’t see on snow reports very often (brutal honesty about blue ice and hard chunks is not typically done).

Good news is that this has been a fantastic snow season, words like epic have been epically over utilized – I received three “epic snow reports” from different New England ski areas in one day last week. But I am not complaining. If March holds true to reputation as the snowiest month on Maine’s mountains – snow reporters may have to coin new phrases to quantify this season – like “roof breaking snows.” Maine skiers have had many perfect powder days, complete with cold smoke – that’s when the light snow billows behind you into the air. Sunday River reports receiving 15 feet of snow this season – and there still making snow on some trails. Just mention to a Sugarloafer that “snowfields are open” and their eyes light up like a pinball machine.

Having skied for almost four decades, I agree that ski conditions are ever changing, so a vocabulary to define the varied vertical surfaces is appropriate. This winter we have had several snowstorms trailed by freezing rain (ok – marginally immature snow) that once groomed yielded the sweetest sugary snow consistency. Snow comes in all shapes and sizes – no two snowflakes are alike according to Vermonter Snowflake Bentley. Ski conditions change from dry and light to wet and heavy (a.k.a.: Sierra cement), from new-fallen to loose frozen granular which has been worked over by the Bombardiers. Snow even comes in a rainbow of colors from the obvious white, to blue to black ice, and of course snow can be yellow – which should always be avoided.

And here’s an interesting factoid, snow crystals are formed around tiny bits of dirt that have been carried up into the atmosphere by the wind. How impressed will your chairlift neighbors be with this witty winter info? Snow crystals fall and clump together in their descent to form snowflakes. If you can’t dazzle them with your skiing, baffle them with your vertical vernacular. To learn more about artificial whitener, aka “machine made snow,” take a Snowflake Factory Tour at Sunday River’s powder making power-house at the base of Barker.

I won’t even start to analyze ski area math, and how one trail is actually three when divided in to upper, mid and lower. Don’t get me going on how every ski area is “closer than you think.”

Have fun decoding the spin, take every report of packed powder with a grain of salt, sugar or other white granule, but be sure to get out and enjoy this season’s snow (powder, pow, fresh, freshies, LFG, PP - whatever) before it turns to corn.

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