Powder snow, somewhat like flour, does not form a ball when held in hand. The biggest difference between it and the regular snow is that it contains minimal water and is very soft and dry. Under a magnifying glass, it is seen consist of spherical particles that support each other.

Source: Xinjiang Autonomous Meteorological Service

Powder snow, which is not a meteorological term, describes snow by form. Lv Xinsheng, chief forecaster of the Xinjiang Autonomous Meteorological Observatory, said. There are distinctions in meteorology between light snow, moderate snow, heavy snow, blizzard, heavy blizzard, and very heavy blizzard, all of which refer to the amount of snowfall in a 24-hour time span.

Powder snow is also graded, from high to low by order of magnitude, into fine dry powder, coarse dry powder, coarse wet powder and fine wet powder. It is the water content of the snow that determines the quality of powder snow, which is usually considered perfectly produced when the temperature is -12°C and the relative humidity of the air is less than 80%. This weather condition is met by41°to 45° north latitude, which is recognized as the "golden latitudinal zone of snow and ice" in the world. This is where Changbai Mountain in Jilin, China,is located, which is known as one of the world' stop three powder snow bases, along with the European Alps and the North American Rockies, hence very popular with ski enthusiasts.

"Jilin is of a northern temperate monsoon continental climate, with winter winds whistling down from the northwest, characterizing the province climatically with cold and dry winters. The average annual snowfall in Jilin is 400 mm, and the cumulative snow cover is more than 1 meter on average, and the terrain in the province rises slowly from west to east, which represent excellent indicators such as slope, wind speed, and water resources for the operation of ski resorts." Chen Lei, senior engineer of Jilin Provincial Meteorological Service Center, introduced.

Therefore, "powder snow plus static wind" is Jilin's "signature". The powder snow in Changbai Mountain is not only of superior quality, but also of high quantity and of long snow cover, the charm of which can be felt there from the beginning of November to April of the following year. At present, Jilin boasts four national ski tourism resorts and eight ski slopes equipped with 29 towed overhead lifts, and the number of ski vacationers has ranked first in China for many years.

A skier enjoys the snow in Changbai Mountain, Jilin. Photoed by MENG Meilin

"The feeling of just one glide down a soft snow track is really enough for you to love it." Su Yiming, winner of the Men's Snowboard Jump at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics,praised Jilin's powder snow. He said that while the athletes are skiing, the powder snow particles provide more support with less friction, thus accelerating the speed. In addition, in the skiing process, the high-speed impact between the snowboard and the snow rustles crisply, with the rebounding powder snow being all the more likely to roll up high snow waves, giving skiers a better pleasure.

A skier enjoys the snow in Changbai Mountain, Jilin. Photoed by MENG Meilin

On December 26, 2023, the fifth Changbai Mountain Powder Snow Festival, organized by the Jilin Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Management Committee and Jilin Province Department of Culture and Tourism, opened in the Changbai Mountain Snowflake Ice and Snow Park.

Xinjiang, nearly 3,000 kilometers away from Jilin, is also rich in snow and ice resources and numerous in top snow resorts. It is one of the places with the most ski resorts in China. Among them, 44 are rated as S-class (the grade of tourist ski resorts assessed by the Chinese tourism regulator), and the very unique ones are even harder to count. Xinjiang, large as is, finds ski resorts in all its 14 prefectures. So no matter where tourists go, there must be a ski resort that can satisfy them.

Source: Xinjiang Autonomous Meteorological Service

With nine S-class ski resorts, long winter seasons and abundant snowfall, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture boasts spectacular snow and ice scenery. The relatively warm winter makes it known as the place to allow for "go skiingin a shirt”. "As seen from the map, the local resorts are located in the mountain-shielded natural valleys. Topographically speaking,moreover, Ili is blocked by the Tianshan Mountain in the north, which effectively prevents the invasion of cold air from the north. At the same time, thanks to the co-location ofthe mountainous area in the inversion zone and the relatively weak winter wind,'go skiing ina shirt' is not an exaggeration at all in Ili. " Zhu Xiaomei, a Class I Senior Engineer at the Ili Meteorological Observatory, said.

Located in the northernmost part of Xinjiang and in the south of the Altai Mountains, Altay is endowed with a snow season of seven months in a year and with world-class snow and ice resources. In September 2018, the city was awarded the National Climate Label of "China's Snow Capital". The Jiangjun Mountain Ski Resort there, which is the only urban alpine one in the country and only 1.6 km away from the city center, is favored by domestic and foreign tourists for its long snow season and excellent snow quality. Out of 72 available pistes and trails, two are FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) certified.

The Jikplin Ski Resort in Altai Hemu Village was also born out of powder snow resources. The maximum drop of snow courses there is as large as 1,466 m, and all 103 trails in the snow park are now open, the longest of which extends 11.1 km, equivalent to the length of a quarter marathon. Since December 2023, the resort has been visited by more than 3,000 tourists every day, less than 6% of who mare from the local Xinjiang, while the rest from all over the country.

Powder snow, which is a source of a good experience for skiers, in volves risks that have to be watched for. Among the common weather elements, temperature, wind, snowfall, fog and haze can pose as risk factors for skiing. So skiing should take place on a sunny, calm(0to 0.2 m/s) or breezy day since snowfall or fog, haze and other conditions compromise the visibility of the skier severely, especially that for down hill and freestyle skiing, whose visibility should be at least greater than 2 kilometers. Therefore, it is especially important to be well informed of weather before skiing.

Editor: JIANG Zhiqing