PDR
Powder |
Cold, new, loose, fluffy, dry snow that has not been compacted. This is usually the product of fresh, natural snowfall. |
PP
Packed Powder |
Powder
snow, either natural or machine-made, that has been packed down by
skier traffic or grooming machines. The snow is no longer fluffy, but
it is not so extremely compacted that it is hard. |
HP
Hard Pack |
When
natural or machine made snow becomes very firmly packed. The snow has
never melted and re-crystallized, but it's been tightly compressed
through grooming and continuous wind exposure. You can plant a pole in
hard packed snow, but it takes more effort than packed powder. Unlike
frozen granular snow, hard packed snow is generally white in color. |
LSGR
Loose Granular |
This
surface results after powder or packed powder thaws then refreezes and
re-crystalizes, or from an accumulation of sleet. This is also created
by machine grooming of frozen or icy snow. |
FRGR
Frozen Granular |
This
is undoubtedly the most misunderstood surface condition in ski
reporting. Frozen granular is a hard surface of old snow formed by
granules freezing together after a rain or warm temperatures. There are
a wide range of frozen granular surfaces that offer different textures
and ease of turning. Frozen granular will support a ski pole stuck into
the surface. In contrast, ice will form chips and will not support the
pose. It can return to loose granular after proper machine grooming. |
WETPS
Wet Packed Snow |
Natural or machine made snow that has been previously packed and becomes wet usually because of rainfall. |
WETGR
Wet Granular |
Loose
or frozen granular snow which has become wet after rainfall or high
temperatures. This is typically an easy to ski surface that results
from rainy days or a thaw. |
WETSN
Wet Snow |
Powder snow which has become moist due to a thaw or rainfall, or snow which was moist, as it fell. |
SC
Spring Conditions |
This
is the spring version of Variable Conditions. Like variable conditions,
this term is used when no one surface can describe 70% of the terrain
open for skiing. It is not uncommon for other evidence of spring to be
present such as bare spot, a discolored surface from melting and
traffic. |
WBLN
Windblown Snow |
A windy day can blow the surface snow, either powder or granular, into drifts in some places, leaving a firmly packed base snow. |
| Corn |
Corn
snow, usually found in the spring, is characterized by large, loose
granules during the day which freeze together at night, and then loosen
again during the day. |
| Icy |
Not
to be confused with frozen granular, ice is a hard, glazed surface
created either by freezing rain, ground water seeping up into the snow
and freezing, or by the rapid freezing of snow saturated with water
from rain or melting. It is important to note that, generally, frozen
granular is opaque whereas ice is translucent. |
VC
Variable Conditions |
When
no primary surface (70% or more) can be determined, variable conditions
describes a range of surfaces that can be encountered. It could mean
that parts of the trails are loose granular, part are packed powder,
part are frozen granular and some are wet granular. |
MGG
Machine Groomed Granular |
Loose
granular snow that has been repeatedly groomed by power tillers so that
the texture is halfway between loose granular & packed powder. Some
of the snow is granular & some of the snow has been so pulverized
that the crystals are like fine powder sugar. It's neither loose
granular nor packed powder. This condition occurs only after a
warm/freeze with multiple grooming passes. |