Over in the There’s no word for it in English thread, someone brought up the old chestnut about how the Eskimos have thirty words for snow.
This meme has been pretty much debunked, but on reflection, I realized that we skiiers have at least thirty words or phrases to describe different kinds of snow. A partial list follows:
Avalanche - a large mass of snow falling uncontrollably down a mountainside.
Black ice - snow so dense, one can see clear through to the ground.
Boilerplate - snow packed so densely it resembles ice.
Bottomless - fresh powder so deep skiers need a snorkel to breathe.
Bulletproof - snow so hard it can withstand a gunshot
Champagne - super-light, fresh snow that makes skiers want to pop their corks.
Chowder - broken, chunky powder whose lumpy consistency is reminiscent of a bowl of New England clam soup.
Corn - loose kernels of snow, usually found during late spring; poor man’s powder.
Cornice - an overhanging mass of snow good for jumping off and breaking one’s neck.
Corduroy - barrel-groomed snow that creates a feeling reminiscent of skiing across Paul Bunyan’s pant leg.
Crud - thick, broken snow especially dreaded by timid, thin-thighed skiers.
Crust - a hard, icy layer of snow just brittle enough to give way, cutting skier’s shins as they trip and fall.
Death cookies - nasty ice chips frozen to the snow surface, often left behind grooming machines.
Duff - loose, light snow, heavier than fluff but lighter than mashed potatoes.
Dump - a hefty, fresh snowfall, usually of a foot or more.
Dusting - an immeasurable snowfall, resembling powdered sugar sprinkled on a cookie.
Fluff - a.k.a. powder; fresh snow with consistency between champagne and chowder.
Flurry - an all-too-brief, paltry snowfall; a teaser.
Hardpack - resilient, aged snow, often found on overskied runs; may be called packed powder at Eastern ski areas.
Knee-deep - fresh powder more than 6 inches but less than 2 feet deep; a sound often heard from excited powder toads.
Mashed potatoes - wet, heavy snow so thick a shovel will stand up in it.
Mogul - snowy bumps; what weak knees are made of.
Mush - melting snow wetter and slushier than mashed potatoes, usually found in melting ruts.
Packed powder - ski area term for anything but fresh snow.
Powder - light, fresh-fallen snow with the fluffy consistency of lemon meringue; the stuff ski dreams are made of.
Sastrugi - hard, wavy, wind- blown snow, resembling a whitened version of the Sahara Desert, described by Robert Falcon Scott during his expedition to the South Pole.
Sierra cement - fresh fallen, heavy wet dumpage resulting when Pacific storms reach California’s Sierra Nevada.
Sleet - airborne slush.
Slop - melting spring snow intermingled with water puddles.
Slush - watery snow, more suitable for a 7-Eleven Slurpy than a ski hill.
Untracked - virgin snowfall not yet attacked by powderhounds.
White stuff - colloquialism used by inarticulate TV weathermen.
Feel free to add your own.
