A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words 975 entries

dust on crust

DUST on KRUST
A thin layer of new snow sitting on top of a frozen, hard base. One of the most disappointing conditions in skiing — it looks like a powder day but is not. The fresh snow provides no cushion; the crust beneath does all the talking.
Etymology
American ski slang. The compound is self-descriptive and self-pitying.