There's an old myth that Inuit have many names for snow. I've found a few of my own this winter. Feel free to add!
Overflow: Runoff forced from frozen rivers and streams during thaws or because of ice pressure. It covers paths around the stream and can create dangers. I've seen standing water on these formations even when the temp is well below freezing.
Chunder: Large blocks of black ice and frozen gravel kicked up into bike lanes and paths by large snow plows.
Chop: Mix of ice furrows, snow and gravel that doesn't upset balance but makes the ride seem like taking a ship through heavy chop.
Flour Snow: Fairly fresh snow that's been kicked up by cars into a dry powder that resembles flour. It can pack on top of black ice, then slide off suddenly.
Biscuit Dough: Flour snow that's been coated with oil and crud from cars. It feels like and resembles biscuit dough after the butter is in. Often has a yellowish hue. Can conceal ice ridges, chunder and ice traps.
Pressure Ridge: Formation of thick ice ridges that forms after Chinook winds or where overflow meets existing ice packs.
Freeway: Any patch of smooth trail or road you manage to find.
dobber
12-23-06, 05:00 AM
Non Existent: The blessed lack of any measurable snowfall. Usually accompanied by warmer than normal temperatures and celebrated by waving of gas bills above ones head.
blamp28
12-23-06, 05:57 AM
Fender Boogers - The caked up globs of snow that get packed in wheel wells of cars or in bike frames and fenders.
dobber
12-23-06, 09:12 AM
Frozone: When the cyclist become stuck in snow so deep that it continues to hold the bike upright.
Bekologist
12-23-06, 01:45 PM
Greaze wet, slushy snow the consistency of phil wood waterproof.
greazy slick surfaces on roads kicked up by above freezing slush on top of frozen pavement or atop white ice. different from blue ice.
white ice hard packed snow that sheets up and covers the roadway despite the snowplow's best efforts. provides better traction than blue or black ice and is great for drift turns.
blue ice hard water ice. dangerous without studs.
black ice clear appearing blacktop that is actually water saturated and frozen. only a bit more forgiving than blue ice.
shooting the gullies riding deep furrows of snow and ice created by auto tires. Also, finding the sweet spot riding thru the chop.
graupel hard frozen, lightly textured road conditions usually providing fair traction. alternately, the crunchies
Gojohnnygo.
12-24-06, 01:49 AM
Fender Boogers - The caked up globs of snow that get packed in wheel wells of cars or in bike frames and fenders.
I call them CAR TURDS when they fly out from under ones car hurtling down the road like a torpedo.
arcticbiker
12-24-06, 06:59 PM
snow crust: the general term for any hard surface on snow
sun crust: a crust formed when the sun melts the top layer of snow, and then it refreezes
rain crust: a crust formed when rain falls on snow and then freezes
spring crust: a crust formed when warmer weather (but not necessarily sunshine) melts the top layer of snow and it refreezes
wind crust: a crust that forms when wind packs down a layer of snow that has already been deposited
wind slab: a crust in which the wind packs the snow at the same time as it’s being deposited
ice crust: a crust that forms when water (from whatever source) flows onto the surface of snow and then freezes
film crust: a very thin ice crust
aggradational ice:the additional ground ice formed as a direct result of permafrost aggradation. (read Fairbanks)
creep:a way that snow or ice can move by deforming its internal structure
crevasse hoar:a kind of hoarfrost; ice crystals that develop by sublimation in glacial crevasses and in other cavities with cooled space and calm, still conditions under which water vapor can accumulate
and the best for last:
cryosuction:a suction developed in freezing or partially frozen fine-grained materials as a result of temperature-dependent differences in unfrozen water content:eek:
Gojohnnygo.
12-26-06, 12:07 PM
YELLOW SNOW: Snow that a dog pissed on or other animal. Don't eat yellow snow:D
Bob Ross
12-26-06, 02:45 PM
I call them CAR TURDS when they fly out from under ones car hurtling down the road like a torpedo.
Need a name for those flat, geometric chunks of partially-frozen snow that fly out from *over* the top of cars...usually off the hood or roof.
I nominate Crapnel - a conflagration of "shrapnel" and the "Oh Crap!" that one yells as a plate-sized chunk of this comes whizzing towards your face.
zippered
12-27-06, 11:51 AM
awesome!
what about the light, sugar-like dusting or the stuff that isn't quite rain, isn't quite hail, isn't quite snow, but hurts like hell on your face?
crtreedude
12-27-06, 11:57 AM
Nieve - a mythical substance that is reputed to exist in far away places where we wonder why anyone would live there. Nieve is to be used to make batidos and cold drinks - it is dangerous when used in any other manner.
Gojohnnygo.
12-27-06, 01:28 PM
Frosthields The icy glaze on motorist windshields that refuse to let them defrost before driving.
zipster
12-27-06, 02:24 PM
Stampede Crust: Generally found on muliti-use trails. Caused by footprints that melt during the mid-day sun (sun crusting) and turn to very bumpy crust by evening. Suspension forks are highly recommended due to the extreme washboard effect. Sometimes intensified by light rain crust conditions.
kuan
12-27-06, 02:51 PM
Suicide tracking: Where you get into a slippery rut and can't steer out, so you pedal like hell and hope to exit the rut without laying it down.
Cosmoline
12-28-06, 01:51 AM
Tightrope Riding: Riding on a narrow band of packed ice and snow that's just wide enough to walk down while trying to keep your tires from slipping off into the mire of snow on either side.
Pulling a Shackleton: Getting lost down local park trails and back roads as the snow gets deeper and deeper, and finally having to wade through deep drifts to get out.
Pulling a Scott : The same as Pulling a Shackleton, but you lose your shoes and possibly a toe.
MadCat
12-28-06, 02:04 AM
Rootbeer Slurpee: A mixture of sand and snow. It's thick and brown and a nightmare to ride in but it makes me want a rootbeer slurpee. The city gets covered in this stuff when the sanding trucks take to the roads before the graders.
PsySal
12-28-06, 02:27 AM
Chop: Mix of ice furrows, snow and gravel that doesn't upset balance but makes the ride seem like taking a ship through heavy chop.
That's funny, tonight I was riding in this type of snow and I said to myself, "Hold on, we're in from some chop!" which is what the dropship pilot says in starcraft (PC game, if you know it, you'll know what I mean, otherwise, just bear with me.) Anyhow I thought of this post and thought how many types of snow there were, and funnily enough as I was reading this just now, lo and behold, we came up with the same name for this kind of snow. It's sort of fun to ride in, actually.
However the dropship pilot also says, "in the pipe, five by five", so I think this could also be called "five by five".
ColorChange
12-28-06, 09:47 AM
Ice Craters: Wet snow/slush that has been walked through and then quickly frozen. Cupped sharp ice edges reach up to knock your wheels silly and shred you if you fall on one. Usually big from boots.
Mini Ice Craters: Same as ice craters but caused by dogs and other varmints. Harder to see and steer around.
Rail Road Tracks: Same snow conditions that a cross country skier skied on. You now have two ice rails, usually hidden in the snow. Good luck trying to cross or get out of these without going down.
Mine Field: A collection of all three above, especially when snow covered. Find yourself in one of these, get off the bike and go home. ;(
Plow Squish: When the damn snow plow trucks don’t leave you any room on a 55 mph+ 4-lane divided highway. Not avoiding plow squish can lead to the dreaded biker squish.
i just remembered this amusing thread from last year!
ps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow (it says Eskimo or Inuit, but i'd inclined to use the latter term)
KLW2
12-22-07, 08:19 AM
I call them CAR TURDS when they fly out from under ones car hurtling down the road like a torpedo.
Road warts or *&%$* low-flying objects
MnIceBiker
12-23-07, 08:58 PM
Death from Above = chunks of snow and ice falling from trees onto a passing cyclist.
Cosmoline
12-26-07, 05:46 PM
I remember this thread. This seaon's Kona is considerably faster than last year's cruiser, and I notice as my speed goes up that "biscuit dough" is getting to be a real problem. It has a way of turning into a solid unit if you hit it hard and fast enough, then you and the "dough" will slide like crazy on the underlying ice.
2manybikes
12-26-07, 06:18 PM
Frozone: When the cyclist become stuck in snow so deep that it continues to hold the bike upright.