Windsift is loose snow on leeward slopes blown in by the wind. The wind tends to dry it out too. If some of the wind hits the slope directly it will get packed firmer. Windbuff is that snow packed by the wind, usually has a chalky texture but holds an edge well and skis nicely if the snow is smooth and not sastrugi. I agree with admin that sastrugi sucks, but those stiff ridges in the snow are generally visible and can be avoided.
The amount of loose windsift on top of the windbuff varies by time and aspect. Usually there's a little bit on the upper runs at Mammoth, slightly softening the turns on the underlying windbuff. But sometimes there is so much windsift you don't even feel the subsurface anymore, allowing smoother and faster skiing with less effort. That was the condition of Dave's Run and the Avalanche Chutes last Thursday.
By my experience Alta is remarkable how little wind it gets relative to other mountains with a lot of above timberline terrain. That contributes to its consistent deep quality on powder days. But if it's dry for a while after the powder days I find skiing slopes smoothed by the wind more enjoyable than churned up 3-day old powder.
The amount of loose windsift on top of the windbuff varies by time and aspect. Usually there's a little bit on the upper runs at Mammoth, slightly softening the turns on the underlying windbuff. But sometimes there is so much windsift you don't even feel the subsurface anymore, allowing smoother and faster skiing with less effort. That was the condition of Dave's Run and the Avalanche Chutes last Thursday.
By my experience Alta is remarkable how little wind it gets relative to other mountains with a lot of above timberline terrain. That contributes to its consistent deep quality on powder days. But if it's dry for a while after the powder days I find skiing slopes smoothed by the wind more enjoyable than churned up 3-day old powder.