Andy - Oct 10, 2002 1:26 pm - Hasn't voted
What is corn snow?In a couple of your skiing photos you mention corn snow. What's corn snow?
- Andy
steeleman - Oct 10, 2002 7:56 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: What is corn snow?the next best thing to powder...
John - Oct 11, 2002 2:35 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: What is corn snow?It's pure sweeetness :-)
peakwolf - Oct 12, 2002 3:50 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: What is corn snow?Corn snow is all of those things and more! But descriptively its snow that forms in the spring after the snowpack has consolidated by going through a bunch of melt-freezes. In the morning as you ascend the slope it is hard and icy, but when the sun hits it and warms it up it starts melting out, forming tiny ballbearings of snow. When the top 4-6 inches is melted out it can be great skiing as you have a soft forgiving surface through which to carve turns, underlain by a harder base that you ride on top of. When you hit it right and the corn is perfect, its almost better than powder!
Mathias Zehring - Oct 12, 2002 4:33 pm - Hasn't voted
FirnIn german we call that "Firn". According to my dictionary this is also an english word. Do you know this expression?
peakwolf - Oct 14, 2002 8:39 am - Hasn't voted
Re: FirnI don't know this, but looked it up and the dictionary says it derives from a German word meaning old (makes sense). I have not heard that term here though. I am not sure why its called corn snow, anyone know? I thought because the granules are round like kernels.
John - Oct 14, 2002 3:07 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: FirnCheck out this page. It mentions several different kinds of snow including corn snow (aka "melt-freeze snow" or "spring snow"). It also mentions firn which is snow that's been on the ground for more than a year and phase in glacier creation. I'm guessing that firn isn't very common a term in the US because most of the snow outside of the minimal glaciers melts out every year?
peakwolf - Oct 14, 2002 4:24 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: FirnHey John, that was a cool article. I am going to post the link to my tele ski list. Thanks!
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