by Pat Mulrooney
It’s funny how every place has its own lingo. Here are some fun new words I’ve learned this week at backcountry ski camp in Alta.
Cinnamon roll— snow that breaks off a rock, tree or cornice and rolls down the slope gathering snow in a swirly pattern that resembles (no joke) a cinnabon. *Doesn’t taste like one though.
Manky – sun-ripened heavy spring snow (almost corn)
Shovel shear—when you cut a column of snow and then slide a rope down the backside, it breaks cleanly from the snow pack
Extended Column Test—dig a snow pit the width of three shovel blades, then hit the snow pack with a series of taps (10 powered from the wrist, 10 from the elbow, 10 from the shoulder) and see when it breaks down. Helps you identify the weak layer
Propagation—you hit a column of snow (see above) and it fractures and causes neighboring layers to fracture
Left nostril of the nose – nose is the ridge, nostril is a convex bowl on one side
Graupel–little pellets of snow that look like Styrofoam ball bearings (or Dip ‘n Dots)
Bench–used to describe the area you would sit on if it were a real bench, but it’s actually a snow-covered landing
High-marking–snowmobilers run straight up the face of the mountain and poach your fresh snow…those machines have amazing torque but are incredibly loud and obnoxious in the BC
