Bill Jennings: There are many ways to describe perfect snow, but beware of calling it bubbly
Legend has it that Eskimos have anywhere from 50 to 400 words for “snow.” A linguist will tell you this isn’t exactly true. But it makes sense that arctic peoples would draw upon numerous terms to specifically define their frozen environment.
This thought briefly crossed my mind Saturday. I was temporarily blinded by a cloud of white dust flying in the wake of my buddy Dan. We were laying down figure eights on the untracked slope of Two Face at Mount Spokane. The snow was of the most rare and coveted quality: light, dry and deep. These words may be accurate, but kind of boring to use for such a thrilling experience.
The idea that Eskimos have dozens, if not hundreds of terms at their disposal to describe snow has been traced to an anthropologist named Franz Boas. In the 1880s, he lived among the Inuit people and assimilated himself into their culture. In his 1911 book “Handbook of American Indian Languages,” Boas referred to the scores of elaborate terms the Inuit and Siberian Yupik used to describe their landscape.
Today’s skiing and riding culture has its own wealth of colorful synonyms for snow. Much like the Inuit, we use these terms to paint a picture in the mind that communicates more strongly than words alone. Some of the most common include powder, crud, corduroy, corn, boilerplate, chicken heads, chocolate chips, death cookies, hard pack, junk, cream cheese, mashed potatoes, etc.
The snow we floated through Saturday was certified “blower.” Imagine plowing through a foot of baby powder. It blows up in your face, over your shoulders and into a trail of cold, white smoke behind you. Dan and I agreed that we were getting real “face shots” skiing in true blue blower.
We blew through the blower until our legs refused to continue. Slaking our thirst in the Foggy Bottom Lounge, I heard someone use the term “champagne powder” to describe the conditions. As someone plying a trade in words, I wondered how a flute full of bubbly became associated with light, dry and deep snow.
Numerous sources trace the origin of champagne powder to Joe McElroy, a rancher out of Steamboat Springs, CO. In the 1950s, he operated a rope tow at a place called Baker Mountain that would eventually become Steamboat Resort. Allegedly he coined the term to describe the snow that typically falls in northwest Colorado.
Associating light, dry powder snow with champagne doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch. Both represent exclusive quality. Connoisseurs savor both. One is an occasion for celebration. The other is a means to celebrate. But for McElroy, apparently the snow just tickled his nose like the tiny bubbles bursting from a glass of champagne.
The cold powder in my face Saturday didn’t tickle my nose. It stung. I’ll stick with blower as the appropriate term to describe powder snow so fine that it’s a step away from sublimating into vapor. Besides, I don’t want to get sued for trademark infringement.
McElroy’s figure of speech became part of the American idiom, free for anyone to use as a form of expression—until lawyers got hold of it. Fifty years after it’s alleged origin, Steamboat filed a federal trademark application for champagne powder with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office in 2008. The resort received an official registration certificate in June, 2010 for “CHAMPAGNE POWDER” related to “resort lodging services.”
For the past 10 years Steamboat has aggressively protected its trademark. Its lawyers send cease and desist letters to anyone who uses the term champagne powder to describe snow or skiing conditions. Some of the parties that have been harassed include Aspen, Salt Lake City, as well as numerous journalists, bloggers and meteorologists.
I should be off the hook. After all, I’ve established that “blower” is my snow slang of choice to describe perfect snow. However, earlier this week I noticed that Mount Spokane used “beautiful champagne powder” to describe the conditions in its snow report. Perhaps Steamboat’s C&D letter is already in the mail.