Definition of "boilerplate"

I've seen multiple reports recently where folks describe "boilerplate" conditions near the top of one volcano or another, while also noting that it had not managed to soften due to cold temps. As a skier raised in New England, I'm thinking that we may have varying definitions of the term going on here. To me, boilerplate is solid ice (often blue or black, with the surface consistency of a frozen pond) that stays hard until it is back in the melted water state, and never gets softer than an ice sculpture. Anything that has a prayer of softening into corn on a warm day is "frozen granular" or some other version of ice, but not "boilerplate," which implies a hard, steel-like surface. I'm assuming that what I call "boilerplate" is more similar to what I sometimes see being called "water ice."<br><br>Though perhaps not the definitive reference, I find the following on www.duluthstreams.org/explore/iceterms.html:
"boilerplate - skiing term for ice that forms from liquid water (as opposed to compressed snow)" which confirms my usage.

Am I missing out on a different local usage, though?

Probably so, Jim. PNW people are prone to calling any re-frozen snow surface with no "give" to it boilerplate. I remember being apalled when, on my first day of East Coast skiing at Waterville Valley, I could see through about a foot and a half of "groomed" snow to the rocks and dirt below. You probably still haven't gotten used to us moaning about these 85 degree "heat waves" either . . .

However, local usage does seem to conform to the dictionary definition of boilerplate (from M-W's 11th Collegiate Dictionary):<br><br>Main Entry: boilerplate<br>Function: noun<br>Date: 1897<br>1 : syndicated material supplied especially to weekly newspapers in matrix or plate form<br>2 a : standardized text  b : formulaic or hackneyed language<br>3 : tightly packed icy snow<br><br>I was rather surprised that definition 3 was even given there at all! But having been raised on the East Coast, I agree with Jim that boilerplate on a ski slope should properly refer to very hard water ice.

I keep hearing these stories about Eastern 'snow'. When I'm around any ice that is translucent enough to see through, I have crampons on my boots and ice tools on my hands. Can someone give me a photo of this supposed water ice that people ski on? Are the stories true?

I call this water ice:<br><br>

Paul, tilt that thing back so that it has about 30 degrees of slope, and New Englanders would call it packed powder and pay good money to ski it. <br><br>But seriously, the stories are true. Water ice on the groomed slopes is a reality in New England (and probably at all ski areas east of the Rockies). Warm storms even in midwinter bring heavy rains up to the highest summits (the highest lifts in New England reach only about 4200 ft), always followed by NW winds and a hard freeze with temps often dipping to 20-30 F below zero. The rain on snow, along with compression from grooming followed by hard freezing, eventually produces transparent milky gray or blue ice on the ski slopes. <br><br>My best skiing-on-ice story is from when I was on the ski team in high school. We raced slalom 5 nights a week at Blue Hills, MA (340 vft). One winter, a section of the slope consisted of less than a foot of grayish water ice above bare dirt, much too hard to even drill into to set up slalom gates. The solution? Our coach pounded in railroad spikes, with the heads capped by tennis balls with a hole poked in them. A brilliant idea it seemed, until a hapless racer slipped and skied over the head of one of the spikes, ruining his skis.

I don't have any photos, but the color of that waterfall is about right, but the surface would be smooth and as Amar notes the angle would simply be more "skiable." Since I was not on any ski teams, when the conditions were as Amar notes, I did not bother. My encounters with boilerplate tended more toward plywood sheet sized patches which I'd mostly just not bother turning on, though everyone liked to brag about their ability to hold an edge on boilerplate. It took me a few years of skiing out here to stop staring intently at the snow surface looking for the places to avoid turning (I don't sharpen my edges nearly as often either).<br><br>I checked a few other dictionary definitions and neither had anything on snow, though it's interesting that MW does. Having worked on a dictionary project, I'm not willing to yield to any single source at this point on a lightly used term such as this. Kind of like not wanting to eat hot dogs if you've worked in the factory...

Well then what about "bulletproof"?

I like the Bulletproof definition, but I think technically there is a term called Firn which is ice that stays year round and appears after the upperlayer of snow melts. Usually found on glaciers, volcanoes and permanent snow fields. I don't think that the Eastern vertical ice rink stuff is considered Firn though? I call it a day to get other stuff done at home.<br>Firnspiegel which is the refreezing glaze of ice that is created over snow usually in the spring or in areas of more direct sunlight effects. When Firnspiegel melts it makes for generally good skiing or boarding. It makes a cool sound when you slide over it and has a funky fun name!<br>JDB

Paul, tilt that thing back so that it has about 30 degrees of slope, and New Englanders would call it packed powder and pay good money to ski it. <br><br>But seriously, the stories are true. Water ice on the groomed slopes is a reality in New England (and probably at all ski areas east of the Rockies). Warm storms even in midwinter bring heavy rains up to the highest summits (the highest lifts in New England reach only about 4200 ft), always followed by NW winds and a hard freeze with temps often dipping to 20-30 F below zero. The rain on snow, along with compression from grooming followed by hard freezing, eventually produces transparent milky gray or blue ice on the ski slopes. <br><br>My best skiing-on-ice story is from when I was on the ski team in high school. We raced slalom 5 nights a week at Blue Hills, MA (340 vft). One winter, a section of the slope consisted of less than a foot of grayish water ice above bare dirt, much too hard to even drill into to set up slalom gates. The solution? Our coach pounded in railroad spikes, with the heads capped by tennis balls with a hole poked in them. A brilliant idea it seemed, until a hapless racer slipped and skied over the head of one of the spikes, ruining his skis.

<br><br>from the OED: 1860 W. FORDYCE Hist. Coal, &c. 112 Various descriptions of Iron, such as nail-rods, *boiler-plates, hoop and sheet iron. 1875 URE Dict. Arts I. 410 The average resistance of boiler plates is reckoned at 20 tons to the square inch. 1893 Congress. Rec. Aug. 465/1 The country weeklies have been sent tons of &#8216;boiler plates&#8217; accompanied by..letters asking the editors to use the matter as news. 1905 D. G. PHILLIPS Plum Tree 190 He attended to the subsidizing of news agencies that supplied thousands of country papers with boiler-plate matter to fill their inside pages. 1924 J. BUCHAN Three Hostages xi. 165 Left me to finish my ascent by way of some very loose screes and unpleasant boiler-plates. 1957 R. G. COLLOMB Dict. Mountaineering 32 Boiler Plates, Overlapping, undercut slabs of rock; convex slabs are usual. 1965 &#8216;E. MCBAIN&#8217; Doll (1966) viii. 113 The rest of the will was boilerplate. Meyer scanned it quickly. 1969 Word Study Apr. 3/2 Other examples of standard slang are debugging and boiler-plate (used in regard to formula-type language standard for all reports).<br>

Interesting topic. As another NE'er, I think everyone from back east has a "Boilerplate" story (yes, there IS a difference!). The closest I ever came to flying off into the woods and never to be seen again on skis was when I hit a trail that had just finished "snowmaking". Beyond a rollover, unseen from above, the water from a leaking hose had cascaded water down the already frozen slope to refreeze in a tilted, dangerous ice skating rink. (This was at Killington, which shows you how desperate I was to ski) The next 50 -100 yards will forever be engrained in my memory as the closest I ever came to dieing at a ski area!<br><br>So, I guess in addition to Amar's apt description of how "natural" boilerplate is formed, I guess "snowmaking equipment malfuntion" might also be included. <br><br>Heck, "snow" made JUST like the ice at the Ice Park in Ouray, CO - from a hose!<br><br><br><br>Jim Oker - I hope we never loose that NE fear of the "ice patch" - makes us appreciate every turn!