YOUR AD HERE »

Get Wild: Thank you to our snowflakes

Karn Stiegelmeier
Get Wild
Thom Paxton/Loveland Ski Area
A snowboarder plunges into a powder pocket at Loveland Ski Area on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. This week's Get Wild examines Colorado's snow.
Thom Paxton/Loveland Ski Area

We have been very lucky to have some perfect powder days in Summit this winter. Recently, we have all complained about the cold air temperatures, but those make for some of the best powder. We are spoiled to have the best snow for skiing anywhere is the USA (I’m not biased). Western and Eastern US ski locations have wetter snow. 

Why do we have such good snow? Colder temperatures and drier air make for those light flakes containing less water and more air. Colorado powder is known for being easier to ski, since it’s easier to make turns in light snow compared to heavy wet snow in other places.

If you want to make a snowball or a snow sculpture you want denser snow, and as it sits in a snowbank or snow blanket, the air diminishes and water increases. The blanket of frozen water crystals covering our high elevations from November through May is the state’s largest water reservoir by volume. The melting snow has immense influence over our summertime rivers. Melting snow provides an average of 80% of Colorado’s annual water supply. 



Colorado’s snowpack accumulation typically peaks around April although some basins peak later than others. The peak in high-elevation areas sheltered from the wind typically yield about 15 inches of water in 50 inches of snow, also called the snow-water equivalent. Commonly, Colorado snow is expected to have about one inch of water in 10 inches of freshly fallen snow.  However, this obviously varies from light fluffy snow containing more like one inch of water for 15 inches of snow, and heavy, wet snow containing as much as one inch of water per 5 inches of snow.

As our snow condenses, there is more snow-water equivalent, and that snow is better for snowballs and snow sculptures.



Snow brings beauty to our views covering our high mountains with white, and our backyards as well. The aesthetic value just viewing the reflections of many snowflake crystals on a blanket of snow can be an opportunity for some quiet appreciation of the hundreds of glistening reflections including rainbows of colors from hundreds of snowflakes on top of the snow blanket. 

The sweet falling snowflakes without wind have been rare so far this year. It has been harder to see those perfect six-sided beautiful flakes that are formed when the air temperatures are warmer than we have been experiencing. We can see these most beautiful six-sided, hexagonal shaped snow crystals in a gentle-falling snow, with a close look as they fall. 

The six-sided, hexagonal shaped snow crystals begin with the formation of a small hexagonal plate, and branches sprout from the six corners as the crystal grows larger and more complex. The formation depends on the changing temperatures and humidity that each crystal experiences through its unique path through the clouds as they form and fall. Each change makes the arms grow a bit differently This formation creates a unique crystal. No two snow crystals are alike. 

You may have some snowflake art hanging on a tree or in a window, and perhaps you have had the pleasure of folding a white paper in half, then into thirds allowing for good scissors in hand and some careful cutting to create a beautiful replica of one of the many unique snow crystals that can be seen with the right atmospheric conditions without magnification.

With more winter months ahead, we can take the time to appreciate and enjoy, in many ways, the beauty, fun and essential water in our snowfalls.

“Get Wild” publishes weekly in the Summit Daily News. Karn Stiegelmeier is a volunteer wilderness ranger for the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance.

Karn Stiegelmeier

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.