 Poster: A snowHead
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Anybody else seen snow that looks like this? It's not entirely clear from this picture but the snow has formed a fairly open curl - I saw some in Orelle over Easter, but couldn't take any pictures.
Anyone know what conditions are required for them to form?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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A requirement to make inspring team motivating pictures and a skilled special effects team? 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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An ice cream scoop.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Lemon sorbet ?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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stevew, did you read the message?
Despair.com is a great site!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Saw loads of "wheels" like that in Tignes in march. Were VERY high temperatures (+10C at 2100), blobs of snow fallign down from ridges rolling and picking up snow. easy as that...
Very close to the typical cartoonish snowball rulling downhill getting bigger and bigger 
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These balls are made by the rare springheel marmot, (marmotte sautant or Springenmurmelteer, marmota tripudiensis). This little fellow leaps about the snow slopes of the Alps (Alpes or Alpen), covering anything up to 50 yards (45.72m) in a single bound. If humans could leap as far relative to our size, we'd be able to cross the Channel from a standing start (I understand that the Eurotunnel consortium is looking into the possibility of genetically engineering elephants with the springheel marmot's 'leaping' gene).
Anyway, the playful male springheel marmot, in his leisure hours, builds snowmen (bonhommes de neige or Schneemaenne) perhaps more properly snowmarmots. The pupose of this is uncertain; they may be fetishes for the marmot or they may play a part in the mating ritual (unlikely, since the reaction of the female marmots to an outbreak of snowmarmot building is to spend most of their time in each others burrows complaining about the propensity of the males to waste their time building snowmarmots). It may be sheer joie de vivre (joie de vivre or Lebensfreude). A notoriously shy creature, if he is startled while constructing the snowy sculpture he will spring many yards (metres) across the snow, leaving an unfinished snowmarmot, as shown in the 'photo. These mystified alpinists for many years and it is only recently that this behaviour has been observed, giving the lie to the many plausible theories which had grown up to explain these isolated snow balls.
And so we say goodbye to the springheel marmot, the Henry Moore of the snow slopes. Farewell, my nivoglyptic friend, and try not to leave your balls on the slopes.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Thu 13-07-06 16:27; edited 5 times in total
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richmond, 
I think your revelations on the lesser-known animal species need to be brought together in one encycloopedia, for handy reference
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Hoppo, They are called pinwheels and are very common if a fall of snow is followed by warm weather. They require reasonably steep embankments. You usually see them on slopes/embankments where there is exposed rock. After a snow fall, warm weather makes the fresh layer of snow heavy and sticky. As a rock warms up some of the fresh snow will fall off, perhaps a bit no bigger than a golf ball. The momentum of the falling snow is enough that it continues to roll down the slope. As it rolls, it picks up snow and gradually grows into a wheel, leaving a 'stripped' area where it rolled down the fresh snow. After rolling a few meters the wheel loses momentum or becomes large enough that it topples over or just stops and is left standing upright. On steep slopes they can get quite large. In June I negotiated a couloir that had pinwheels between knee and waist high, they were huge! On another trip out my girlfriend and I had to cross a steep sunny slope that had a big crop of rocks up hill of us. As we crossed pinwheels where rolling past us. One was about 2 feet high and almost bowled my partner over.
If you arrive at a back country area and see pinwheels it is a good sign that there was rapid warming directly after the recent snow fall.
This is her just crossing said slope. You can see a few pinwheels in the back ground. In areas of mild winter temps yet heavy snowfalls you see them very often. Sometimes they are perfectly formed, like a giant rolled up length of white bubble gum tape!
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 13-07-06 20:49; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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A perfect picture of one.
I usually call them snails.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Using the usual British snow - I used them to build igloo constructions. Several flat 'snowballs' roled from the lawn could be assembled as building blocks !
Winters have been too warm recently. My best construction had two levels, tunnels on arched bridges linking three oneup-one down buildings 
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Wear The Fox Hat, you're right I just saw the style and assumed that it was a motivational poster 
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You know it makes sense.
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stevew, it's DEmotivational!
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