Stay for the Corn

There is a reason that a lot of slopes at ski resorts in the Northern Hemisphere are north facing. During winters in the northern hemisphere, the sun is in the southern sky, so the angle of inclination of the sun is lower in general, and particularly lower for N-facing slopes. These N-facing slopes receive less heat from the sun, and hence the snow pack lasts longer and remains fresher.

A lot of folks living up in the Sierra Nevada recall that the reason they moved up to the sierras was their love for snow and their passion for skiing, but they invariably concede that they have stayed on in the high alpine because of summer. "Come for the winter, stay for the summer" is their refrain. When it comes to skiing in Tahoe, there is a similar sentiment -- come for those epic dumps, but stay for the joy of spring skiing. To me, my favorite ski month is not December (usually hit-and-miss), not January or February (when the resorts are crowded), but it is actually March and early April. If you time it right, corn or spring snow is some of the most delicious you can experience. 

As spring arrives and sun's angle of inclination increases, temperatures rises and the top layer of snow melts. But during the night, temperatures up in the mountains are below freezing, so the top layer refreezes forming a hard icy surface. So to enjoy spring conditions, we need to patiently wait for the sun to do it's magic and adopt a simple rule: "Follow the sun".

Ideally, you start on E-facing slopes in the morning (snow softens on E-facing slopes first as the sun rises), move to S-facing ones mid-morning (as the day warms up, sun in the southern sky has shined longer on the S-facing slopes thus softening it up) and then move onto N- and W-facing ones as they soften up by lunchtime (sun shines on the western slopes in the afternoon, and N-facing slopes soften up in the afternoon heat).

Understanding the slope aspect and effects of the sun is important in order to have a good day on the snow because believe it or not most resort days are non-powder ones.