Snow Daze

My Top 5 reasons to love and embrace snow:

1) Snow functions as a perfectly reasonable career option. All along I've been studying ecosystem processes in the summer, which really gets in the way of fun things like river trips, hikes, and naps. By studying snow in the winter, I could potentially free up all those warm summer months for some non-work fun! To get the ball rolling on this, I decide to take a class this semester called "Permafrost", which never fails to inspire. This picture is of me (sans beard) measuring some unknown (but extremely valuable) snow feature.



2) Camping in cold, snowy conditions requires the use of an arctic wall tent w/ wood stove. No matter how intense the weather, it's always nice and cozy inside these tents. A little coffee, bacon, and fellowship and you've got a winning combination. This picture is from Kanuti hotsprings last April.



3) In Fairbanks, we typically have snow from early October through late April. The key to a happy winter experience (in my mind and as shown on Chrissy's smile) is getting out and skiing. This picture was taken on Murphy Dome in mid-October.

4) Snow is beautiful, and it comes in many forms. The other day I went to "do some science" at the wetland and took a few pictures:



In the open grassy area of the wetland, the snow is hard and crusty (windslab), and kind of looks like the ocean frozen mid-wave.


Where there are shrubs, the snow takes on the appearance of giant marshmellows.



5) Snow is even more amazing on a small scale.












http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/photos/photos.htm