All powder is not created equal. At higher temperatures, the moisture content of the fresh snow rises. The snowflakes stick together and pack densely. Instead of throwing up a fine spray as you ski, large lumps are detached. Turning is hard work.

The best technique to adopt is platform unweighting. Exaggerate the unweighting by punching with the outside hand and thrusting your feet forwards.

Porridge

Porridge: this is unfortunately not the smooth, creamy oats dish, but heavy, wet snow with lumps. It is either fresh snow which has fallen above freezing point or been rained on, or older melting rubbish. If not too deep, it can be skied in the same way as slush. Otherwise, as with heavy powder, the only solution is to try platform unweighting. Porridge requires a lot of brute force, and since it is the cause of many late afternoon accidents it is sometimes known as leg-breaker snow.

Crud

After a fall of powder, you will rarely be the only skier on the mountain. Ultimately, every powder slope ends up crisscrossed by tracks, and the resulting surface can be a difficult one to ski. One moment, your skis are slowed by the resistance of powder; the next, they shoot out into someone's old tracks. You try as long as possible to pretend that you are still skiing powder, but at some point you have to admit it: you are skiing crud.

Look ahead and concentrate on the approaching terrain. Stay balanced over your skis, and stay strong: do not let the patches of powder catch your legs and pull you off balance. Try using more speed than you would normally on a packed slope of the same steepness. This will make your skis plane through the remaining powder, evening out the surface. A fall shouldn't hurt.

Windblown Snow

Windblown or windpacked snow is the result of a snow-fall accompanied by high winds. The wind action breaks up the flakes, allowing the snow to pack densely in a series of crusty ridges. Skiing windblown snow is rarely much fun and can be similar to skiing crust.

Windblown snow also presents a strong avalanche danger, since slopes and cornices will be loaded and may release without warning.

Spring or corn snow

The only trick to skiing spring snow lies in the timing: arrive too early and you will be skiing on boiler-plate; stay too long, and your skis will sink into a melting layer of slush. Try south-facing slopes earlier in the morning, saving the north-facing slopes for later, once they have thawed somewhat.