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SSSdave

life is short precious ...don't waste it
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Silicon Valley
The majority of skiers tend to know where corn is by experience and word of mouth. Numbers of skiers only start noticing corn conditions in the afternoon when given favorable weather, corn snow may be common all over a resort, especially on warm overcast days, however on other days where the corn is may be less obvious. For those advanced skiers more serious about skiing corn snow, not interested in wasting their time rattling around about firm icy slopes, I will suggest they also become familiar with a topographic map for their ski area as understanding where sun shines during the course of a day and at what angle has a direct affect on the ability of a slope to corn up, to soften up. Just any soft snow, for instance 2 or 3 day old mushy fresh snow is not enough as it takes some days of thaw freeze thaw cycles for granular corn crystals to form.

At this time of year, the Tahoe latitude sun rises a bit north of due east and by mid morning when resorts open is a bit south of due east. Slopes that will be most impacted by those warming softening rays will be more perpendicular to that sun. Slopes without other blocking ridges or shadowing forest in those areas, also more so. And on windy days, less breezy slopes on the lee side of wind directions than exposed slopes also more so. On days overnight temperatures are well above freezing, corn may be set up early however it is more likely corn snow will be welded together when a resort opens mid morning requiring some time to soften up.

As an example of how to play the game, consider this topo map of Kirkwood that I've centered the crosshairs at point 8967 just north of Thunder Saddle. :

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=38.66806,-120.05267&z=15&t=T

To see where the runs are switch to the "Map" tab. See the crosshairs? Notice the short red line of the Vista surface lift above it that is part of that same north to south ridge? Now switch back to "Topo". One of the best late morning corn slopes in Tahoe are the east facing open sparse treed slopes of that ridge including Sunnyside. Notice the considerable areas of moderate advanced slope gradients? Another reason those slopes are good for skiing corn is the slopes have smoother surfaces because they are less skied less tracked because they take more effort to reach.

The easiest access is via the Vista surface lift that receives little use because surface lifts tend to intimidate the majority of visitors. Otherwise from the Sunrise Chair 4 lift requires some climbing to get above 8967. Conditions on Sunnyside will only be good for a limited period before the soft layer becomes too deep, bogging down skis running into too much resistance. Thus the next slopes to seek are not quite as directly perpendicular and as a day progresses more around to west facing aspects while depending on weather and shadowing what had been good may begin to firm up.
 
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Seve

Live Free or Die Baby
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If flash-frozen corn is your thing come up to Stowe or K tomorrow. I don't care how well you season it, it ain't gonna taste too good.
I dooo love me some of the non flash-freeze variety of corn however! Thinking Superstar and 65 sunny degrees in May and really no seasoning required but cold beers mandatory.
 

Ken_R

Living the Dream
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jseeski

Skiing a little BC powder
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Salmo, British Columbia, Canada
Corn? What is this corn you speak of?

180402 P1100207.jpg
 

MountainMonster

~0~
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Mammoth has corned up great this past week. Rain forcast to to wash it away this weekend
 

SSSdave

life is short precious ...don't waste it
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A bit more corn wisdom. Corn snow is often mis-characterized by resorts and skiers lumping a lot of snow types into one bucket because the term corn snow is a positive one.

The difference between loose granular and corn snow is that loose granular is similar to corn snow grain size and pellet wise however corn snow grains metamorphosize as a mass sticking together more closely due to bipolar molecular water adhesion with less air space creating a more sliding friction when warmed up a bit that skis won't sink in much while loose granular grains are usually further apart with more air space, mostly unattached, with skis sinking in more. When warmed up, loose granular is likely to form mushy slush. Warming corn snow surfaces that have warmed up a bit go through an ideal stage before becoming too wet where the molecular water adhesion is limited allowing the grains to slide against each other without yet being too wet becoming mushy wet granular conditions. Loose granular is often found where snow groomers break up icy firm snow into small pieces and with piles of too frequently groomed man made snow.

Corn snow as noted requires a few days of a thaw-freeze-thaw cycle ideally with sunny day temperatures above about 40F and night temps below freezing enough or with enough snow base cold thermal mass long enough to freeze snow a few hours each night. Such conditions are not found as much about colder northerly far inland continental higher altitude resorts versus those with more moderate early spring weather. Nor at resorts that stay above freezing day and night or where rain and sleet fall on what was fresh snow or evolved corn snow. Generally Sierra Nevada and Southern Rockies resorts with sunny exposures have good weather conditions for corn snow at the usual end of ski resort seasons.

A better choice for a long run down a corn snow slope is where slopes have a consistent level angled topography facing the sun. In other words a slope that generally faces the sun but has smaller scale topographic undulations will have variable sun warming on its frozen corn granular state. The steep east facing Sierra Nevada between Bishop and Bridgeport has considerable ideal such topography during east rising sunny mornings for backcountry enthusiasts . Additionally much like fresh powder, skiing down smooth untracked corn slopes can be much better than those where resort skiers have already tracked a surface.

All this corn snow thinking has me pulling out my old Alpine Trekkers to see if they are set to fit in my current bindings and checking the glue on my skins. That time of year and this year given retirement and with no wildflower photo work in our droughty deserts, I have a whole lot of time.
 
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4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
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All this corn snow thinking has me pulling out my old Alpine Trekkers to see if they are set to fit in my current bindings and checking the glue on my skins. That time of year and this year given retirement and with no wildflower photo work in our droughty deserts, I have a whole lot of time.
& the fact that Kirkwood is closing on Sunday :nono: .

Then there is the best of corn season, when the Firnspiegel forms...
:yeah:
firnspiegl2.jpg



http://www.avalanche-center.org/Education/glossary/firnspiegel.php
"Firnspiegel

Also: Firn Spiegel, firn mirror, glacier fire

An ice crust formed on the snow surface on sunny, cold days. The sun's heat penetrates the surface snow layers and causes melt around the grains beneath the surface but meltwater at the surface is refrozen forming a thin layer of ice. This requires just the right heat balance.

Firnspiegel is highly reflective and mirror-like, giving it the colloquial names of firn mirror and glacier fire.."
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
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You know every time I read that title it just starts to go sideways so hard.... :huh:
 
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Don in Morrison

I Ski Better on Retro Day
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Morrison, Colorado
Most of my ski days this season have been over 40°, so corn has been on the menu regularly since January. I've only had a few days under 30°, and one of those was 4-6 inches of powder over frozen slush, in early February. I missed the last two weeks of the season at Granby Ranch, but it was melting rapidly by mid-March, so I think I was better off skipping those days anyway.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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& the fact that Kirkwood is closing on Sunday :nono: .
That's going to be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of skiers around here.
No snow until March and now full coverage and lots of base depth...sigh.
 

Seve

Live Free or Die Baby
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Corn.jpg
Don't be fooled, cause when the harvest comes they are a bunch of bass-ass skiers...
 

4ster

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
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Only found mashed potatoes at Alpine today.
Yeah, it was pretty warm all night. not much corn without a freeze. I drove from Utah to Tahoe yesterday. It was almost 70f at dusk east of Reno & still around 50f at dark in Tahoe. Hope this storm doesn’t leave to many rain runnels when it’s done or lose a bunch of snow pack.
 

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