We found a spot with a superb view, through pine tops to a serrated ridge of snow-tipped peaks.
Liam and I walked methodically along the broad ridge, on snow the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Measurements were taken in 2009 and 2010 along a series of transects (12 transects on Gluudneset ridge, and 4 transects on the Gåsebu ridge) to cover the full range of snow depths in the area, from the shallowest to the deepest snow profile.
Moguls, ridges of packed snow, can be hard to navigate because "you're always having to adjust your turns to the contours of the moguls," Ms. McIntyre explained.
Here is a typical Amesbury vista: "Along the curbs of Camp Street stood ridges of soiled snow refrozen after a thaw, being layered over once again by the falling flakes.
"Inosculation" got nine hundred and eighty likes, more than "sastrugi" (long, wavelike ridges of hardened snow) but not as many as "petrichor" (the smell in the air as or before rain falls on hot dry ground).
They choose hard, level ground with little snow for maneuverability, such as ridges blown free of snow or frozen lakes with a thin cover of snow.
Usually, Ms. Sweeney said, all 22 of Snow Ridge's trails are open by now.
— The mountains along the eastern edge of Glacier National Park rise from the prairie like dinosaur teeth, their silvery ridges and teardrop fields of snow forming the doorway to one of America's most pristine places.
From the west-facing porch, you can see reclining Basin Mountain, the cliffy ridge of Little Bigelow, the snow-dusted bald spots of Avery Peak and purple West Peak sprawled across the horizon.
There are few trees here, and those that do survive are twisted and stunted by the severity of weather conditions: it's only mid-October, but there is already plenty of snow on the ridges to add to the savage beauty of the valley.
