It's been a minute or two since we've experienced such a robust Uinta corn cycle... spring of 2013-2014 as a matter of fact. But, even more of a rarity is the uniform layer of firnspiegel that coats our mountains with a mirror-like sheen. Also known as glacial fire, firnspeigel is a thin ice crust formed on the snow surface on sunny, cold days. The sun's heat penetrates the surface snow layers and causes melt around the grains beneath the surface, but meltwater at the surface is refrozen forming a thin layer of ice. This requires just the right heat balance. It's not a layer that raises any red flags, rather it's an exotic surface, a blast to ski, and sounds like broken champagne glasses cascading down the slope with each turn. The jury is still out, but I suspect the reflectivity enhances my early spring tan :)