Latest posts on skiing, snowboarding, and snow science
Face shot: powder nirvana and a staple of ski porn
What is a face shot? A face shot occurs when snow sprays a skier or snowboarder’s face on a powder day. The snow must be deep and light enough (e.g., blower, Champagne Powder®) and the rider must have sufficient speed to elevate the snow to face level. I took the shot above with a GoPro camera attached to the end of my ski pole. I was skiing the Mine Dump trail at Copper Mountain and found the tops of the moguls to be
B is for Bomb Cyclone
From a meteorological perspective, a bomb cyclone really is the bomb.
C is for Cryosphere
The cryosphere encompasses all the frozen parts of Earth’s surface: snow cover, glaciers, permafrost, sea ice, ice sheets, ice shelves, icebergs, and river/lake ice.
A is for Albedo
Albedo is a measure of the fraction of solar energy that is reflected from a surface.
D is for Deicing
Deicing is the process by which ice and snow are removed from an aircraft’s surface so that the frozen contaminants don’t mess with the plane’s aerodynamics.
Balaclava: essential winter gear since the Crimean War
The balaclava face mask is essential gear if you ski or snowboard and the origin of the word has nothing to do with a Greek dessert.
