Welcome to a different weekly consequence from POWDER’s Division of Polls and Skier Opinion. The topic this week? Powder days. Or, extra precisely, what counts as a powder day. Relying on the place you reside and ski, the quantity of snow that’s trigger for celebration—and powder panic—would possibly differ. Our pals who ski at Alta in all probability don’t get too excited when three inches fall in a single day. They’re used to a number of the largest dumps on the planet, in any case. The story, we posited, could be completely different in locations that see much less of the pure stuff.So, our scientists went on a brand new journey, this time in pursuit of a consensus. And boy, did we discover one. As it will end up, amongst a lot of the skiers we polled, one reply reigns supreme. Try the ballot outcomes beneath. The 2026 POWDER Picture Annual is right here! Search for a print copy on a newsstand close to you, or click on right here to have a duplicate shipped on to your entrance door.
How A lot New Snow Counts as A Powder Day? Ballot Outcomes
Ballot Highlights
Whole Votes: 1,196Number of Votes on Instagram: 966Number of Votes on Web site: 230Most Widespread Powder Day Whole: 6-11 Inches (904 votes, 76% of voters)Least Widespread Powder Day Whole: Hint-1 Inch (19 votes, 2% of voters)Different outcomes:
2-5 Inches: 148 votes, 12% of voters
12+ Inches: 124 votes, 10% of voters
Ballot Observations
Nuance, nuance, nuance. As quite a few skiers identified on our social put up, geography and snow high quality make a giant distinction in what qualifies as a powder day. Eight ft of wacky, moist snow, in the long run, could be a disappointment. Just a few inches of sunshine stuff on a comfortable floor, in the meantime, can go a great distance. Equally, resorts identified for his or her deep snow want bigger storm totals to get the “powder day” alarm bells ringing.That stated, we discovered a transparent winner. A overwhelming majority of respondents stated between 6 and 11 inches is the place the powder day class begins. That’s a comparatively wide selection, which is sensible. Six inches for the drier spots. Eleven inches for the jaded skiers used to fluff.Some skiers have greater requirements. Ten p.c of them answered 12 inches or extra. One social media commenter even stated they don’t get off the bed except the snow totals learn two ft. We want they stated the place their native mountain is, as a result of with that angle, they should be rolling in it. One other commenter took a daring stance, arguing that wind buff is healthier than blower. Are they on to one thing? Possibly. We’d run a ballot to search out out. However we expect it’s unlikely that powder snow—the largely undisputed holy grail of snowboarding—may very well be dethroned or have any important opponents.
ultramarinphoto/Getty Photographs
What We May’ve Finished Higher
Was this the improper query? On our web site, simply 230 skiers chimed in, a major drop from final week. Whereas we loved the outcomes, the powder day question could have lacked the pizzazz of our earlier polls or been as debatable. A powder day’s a powder day, you realize? Chairlift security bars, in the meantime, received individuals amped up. We’ll spare you the precise gory, numerical particulars, however gathering information on Instagram offered an issue. Apparently, the app generally rounds up the odds we use to calculate the precise variety of votes, which threw all the pieces off. A really small variety of votes, then, did not land the place they need to. That hardly impacted the outcomes, although. You’ll be able to see the uncombined outcomes from net and social right here and right here, respectively.
In regards to the POWDER Weekly Ballot
We launch our weekly polls at 3 p.m. EST each Monday. They continue to be open till 12:00 p.m. EST that Friday, with the outcomes dropping on Sunday at 9 a.m. EST (schedule adjustments round holidays are attainable). You’ll be able to take part and see the outcomes proper right here on our web site or by visiting our Instagram web page.
