Different Types of Snow

SNOW
You can experience a huge range of snow and weather conditions depending on where in the world you choose to ski or snowboard.

Whistler snow reports show that the consistency of natural snow varies from very light and fluffy to dense and heavy. The type of snow that falls is determined by the atmospheric conditions in Whistler at that time. Snow is often measured by it's moisture content, or the amount of water in a given volume of snow.

In parts of the Rocky Mountains that can get huge amounts of snowfall, the moisture content can be as low as three to five percent. Whereas in the Northeastern United States and the Alps, moisture content is more typically 15 percent or more. Snow can also be made mechanically and this type of snow often has a minimum moisture content of 35 percent.

Whistlers atmospheric conditions including temperatures and air currents determine the shape of a snow crystal. The more air in new snow that falls the further apart the crystals will be and the lower the moisture content. Even the fluffiest snow has mass, and snow typically settles under its own weight after time. This is partly why untouched snow measuring 20 cm on the day it falls can be measured at 15 cm the next day. Snow can also be subject to sublimation, this is a process in which water goes from being frozen to gaseous, without first melting. This is the same process that makes ice cubes shrink in your freezer.

There are many factors that impact snow beyond its moisture content and crystal shape. Snow is also impacted by wind, sunlight, ambient air temperature, skier traffic and grooming equipment. All of these factors combined can change a snow crystals shape and density over time. This means that all skiers and snowboarders will experience a wide range of snow conditions in Whistler throughout the course of a season.

Some of the more common snow types include:
Powder- This is light, fluffy snow, which is found during and immediately after a snowstorm. This 'powder' is a big favourite with experienced skiers and snowboarders alike.

Packed Powder- This is powder snow that has been compressed, either by skier traffic or mechanical snow grooming apparatus. This type of snow tends to be the favourite of the beginner and the majority of recreational skiers as it tends to be easy to turn upon, and requires less skill to negotiate than powder snow.

Granular snow- This type of snow consists of small pellet crystals. There are two different types of this snow, the first is the wet granular snow which has a considerable amount of unfrozen water in it and is mainly found in the springtime. The other is the loose granular snow which has no unfrozen water. This snow is generally produced when wet granular snow has re-frozen and then been broken up by snow grooming apparatus. Wet granular snow will form a snowball, where as loose granular snow will not.

Corn snow- This snow is the result of repeated daily thaws and nightly re-freezing of the surface of the snow. Because of the thaw-refreeze cycle the snow crystal shapes change over time. This makes the crystal shapes similar to the wet granular snow, but larger.

Ice- This is the name given by skiers and snowboarders to snow that is very hard. This is often just a frozen granular condition, which is wet granular snow that has refrozen to form a very dense surface. This type of snow can be preferred among racers, this is because the surface tends to be quite fast and race course conditions tend to remain more constant.

Crust- This is when soft snow is covered by a harder upper layer upon it's surface. This crust can be created by freezing rain, by direct sunlight and by wind loading, which packs down the upper layers of the snow pack but leaves lower layers more or less unaffected.