Snow Cornices: Identification and Safety Tips for Skiers

The mountains are unpredictable and dangerous by nature. Tree wells, avalanches, sheer cliffs—all these risks require that skiers possess keen navigation skills, particularly when they adventure outside the relatively safe bounds of their favorite ski resort.Among these pieces of the backcountry navigation puzzle are cornices: outcroppings of snow that appear on the leeward—downwind—side of ridgelines.
When winds blow over a ridgeline, it gathers snow that deposits and forms th