I’m sure more than a few locals have their pet peeves when it comes to the local television’s newscasts and their talking heads. Talking heads who regularly fall victim to mispronunciations, delivery flubs, you name it. No matter the problem they always rely on a perky delivery and a big smile to get them through..
My personal talking head pet peeve is a simple one. It’s the constant reference to any snow that falls at Mount Bachelor as “powder” snow.
For example earlier this week while the daily temperatures in Bend were hovered near fifty degrees and were in the mid-forties at Mount Bachelor, one of the perky evening news reporters noted that we should expect, “at least two inches of fresh powder at Mount Bachelor tomorrow.”
Two inches of fresh heavy wet crud, yes, but powder, unfortunately no.
Skiers and riders love powder and the experienced among them know the difference between the light fluffy powder and wet Cascade Crud. But apparently the dictum at our local television outlet’s news departments is to refer to any form of snow as powder.
How about just saying, “two inches of snow is expected to fall tomorrow,” and calling it good at that? Simply saying snow implies that snow is indeed coming and that’s a good sign, but to imply that the new snow is powder is to imply that epic, once-in-a-lifetime powder that smacks you in the face on every turn is coming. That’s patently false.
Pity the poor unsuspecting tourist tuning in the local news on the television at his or her accommodations and hearing that powder is coming. They race to the ski area the next day only to slide through mist and rain or work hard to push crud around.
This is not to fault Mount Bachelor which does the best it can with the snow delivered them my Mother Nature. And what’s given them isn’t a steady diet of true powder snow. Yes we get powder snow in the Cascades and yes it is great fun to ski, but no we don’t get it all the time.
So, let’s get real talking heads and have some truth in broadcasting. Powder is very cold, almost moisture-less snow. And it falls when air temperatures are cold not when the air temperature is 30, 40 or 50 degrees.
In the interest of understanding snow types, I turn to my longtime colleagues Michael Brady and Leif Torgersen. Brady is widely considered the world expert on the sport of cross-country skiing. Torgersen is the head chemist for the Swix ski wax company and fondly known as “Doctor Wax.”
According to Brady and Torgersen in their book “Waxing and Care of Ski and Snowboards” (Wilderness Press ISBN 0-89997-303-5) there are three things to consider when talking about snow types: grain character, wetness and hardness.
As to grain character, there’s new snow (“falling or new that has not yet changed on the ground”), fine-grained snow (“older snow on the ground with its crystals rounded”), and coarse-grained snow (“snow on the ground that has gone through one of more freeze-thaw cycles so individual grains have formed larger grains”).
Moving onto wetness, dry snow is snow usually, “below OC (32F), and the individual grains of snow stick poorly to each other when squeezed in a gloved hand”). Moist snow is snow that’s “above 0C/32F with no water visible. When squeezed in a gloved hand, the snow makes a snowball”. Wet snow is easy to identify because, “water is visible between the grains but it cannot be pressed out of a snowball squeezed in a glove hand.”
Very wet snow is defined as snow where: “water can easily be pressed out of a snowball squeezed in a hand.” Slush is “snow that is sopping wet.”
As far as hardness goes, let’s leave it with this: powder is easy to make an impression in. Making an impression becomes more difficult the wetter the snow.
This ends the lesson and with it a caveat-beware of TV talking heads yammering on about powder snow. They have no idea of what they’re talking about.
This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2010.
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I think you just became a talking head!!!! need i say more. blah blah blah blah!!!!!!!!
I got about one half way through this article and stopped. Re-read your own article. Prior to thrashing our talking heads you need to write correctly. You don’t appear to be any better in what you do so stop the criticism. As for the talking heads…… they only get one shot to do their job. You can take all the time you need to write and edit. “Powder”, doesn’t sound bad now does it?
Love the soapbox rant! As a recent transplant from a ski town in CO I wait with baited breathe for the fat, fluffy flakes of the high country; knowing all along those big pow days are behind me…..and new snow (conditions) is on the horizon. Any way we get it is okay by me; come on Ullr! Snow dance boogie people, we need it.
Thankfully there is no need to rely on 3rd parties if you want to know what’s up conditions wise at the mountain. The snow report does not call glop powder, in fact it calls it glop all the time. Even called it “mind-blowing uberglop” at one point. Everyone can be informed, if they want to be.
I couldn’t agree with you more Bob!!! I would really like some real reporters and newscasters here in Bend. I mean, I know we are a small little town but I think we deserve it. We seem to be the testing ground for up and coming journalists. And its not just the TV people either. The newspaper is full of stupid stories thta i would not really consider news….guess I’m on my soap box now.
A kid goes to his father to ask a question about how something works, the dad says to the boy,” go ask your mother, I’m busy right now”. The boy says, ” na, thats ok, I didn’t want to know that much about it”. And so it is with what powder snow is or isn’t. My pet peeve from the talking heads is the hairspray. snap
If you’re going to call out local TV for petty things, it seems turnabout is fair play. Thank your lucky stars I’m not being nitpicky:
1) “the daily temperatures in Bend were hovered near fifty degrees”
were hovered?
2) “the dictum at our local television outlet's news departments”
there are multiple outlets, thus it’s “outlets'”
3) “This is not to fault Mount Bachelor which does the best it can with the snow delivered them my Mother Nature.”
delivered them my Mother Nature, huh?
4) “‘When squeezed in a gloved hand, the snow makes a snowball’. Wet snow is easy to identify because, ‘water is visible between the grains but it cannot be pressed out of a snowball squeezed in a glove hand.'”
huh. i find it odd that the book would refer to a “gloved hand” but then a “glove hand”
The “Off Piste” blog is insufferable. You should end it.
Nice one, broseph!