 Poster: A snowHead
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Last week we saw several sun columns. one at the top of Saloir (sp) in Courchavel was astonishing. Are they really that rare?The manager of our hotel in Brides said he had never seen one in 21 seasons!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sequoiaboard, saw four coming down at the end of the day in Champoluc a couple of weks ago. But can't remember seeing them before.
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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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sequoiaboard, we saw one last year in avoriaz/morzine, pretty amazing
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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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Btw, we saw them all on the same day. The air was full of ice flakes and sometimes when the sun caught them right it looked like entering hyperspace on startrek when skiing along.
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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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sequoiaboard, yes, exactly the same conditions when we saw them - the air was full of 'magic dust'.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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What are they?
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"A sun pillar is a halo phenomenon of a vertical shaft of light extending upward or downward from the sun. Typically seen during sunrise or sunset, sun pillars form when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds (e.g.cirrostratus clouds). The hexagonal plate-like ice crystals fall with a horizontal orientation, gently rocking from side to side as they fall. When the sun is low on the horizon, an area of brightness appears in the sky above (or below) the sun as sunlight is reflected off the surfaces of these tipped ice crystals. However, often only the upper pillar appears.
Sun pillars are seen best within a few minutes of sunrise or sunset. Initially the have about the same coulour and width as the sun, but sunpillars will gradually change their colour from orange-white to red-orange. Sun pillars generally fade 20 to 60 minutes after sunset. Under favourable conditions, e.g. icy fog, sun pillars might stretch out up to 30° above the sun, while light streaks of 5° to 10° are most common."
Good old Google.
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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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And here itis again taken closer to the edge. Took photo on old rubbish compact camera. I wish I had a good camera and the skills to use it. This pic really gives no idea of how spectacular it was. The glowing bit at the bottom looked almost as bright as the sun.
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sequoiaboard, nice, never heard of them
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I only look at the pictures.
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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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dunno but saw a few columnar rainbows on the edge of an inversion on Friday- was pretty cool though not the same thing I guess.
BTW on misleading thread title where's the rant about Richard Littlejohn or Jane Moore or summat?
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| laundryman wrote: |
| I only look at the pictures. |
Very good 
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You know it makes sense.
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| sequoiaboard wrote: |
| Btw, we saw them all on the same day. The air was full of ice flakes and sometimes when the sun caught them right it looked like entering hyperspace on startrek when skiing along. |
[pedantic]Sorry but Star trek uses warp space not hyperspace with occasional forays into natural and artifical wormhole transport. Hyperspace is Star Wars, or possibly, 80's videogame hit Defender.[/pedantic]
You will now be returned to your regular programming...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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We've seen one on our last couple of trips, don't remember ever seeing them before though.
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Poster: A snowHead
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sequoiaboard,
They are common enough round here that I didn't realise it had a special name or that it was a rare thing...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Watched loads of them in Killington on my second ski trip over 2 or 3 days. Didn't think much about it until I read this and realised I haven't seen one since. There is another thing that happens when the sun is high and there is broken cloud cover with heavy snow. Everyone know what a shaft of sunlight looks like, but when it hits heavy snow, it looks like there is a column of snow. Happened in VT on a couple of near white-out days. Looked real enough for me to ski round it rather than 'crash into it'
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