The difference between natural and man made snow is like night and day! Man made snow, although better than no snow,
is more granular and the "feel" is like sliding on a light grit snad paper. Natural snow crystals are more perfectly formed to create a wonderful "glide" for skiers and snowboarders. Proper waxing of your equipment can improve the glide on all snow types. Not part of the question but certainly part of the answer is the topic of groomed vs. ungroomed
terrain: Groomed terrain provides a homogeneous playground of perfect corduroy that beginners and intermediates flourish in while more variable and difficult conditions are found when the terrain is ungroomed, conditions change quickly and fresh snow quickly becomes skied out creating broken snow and eventually moguls. In a matter of minutes terrain can change from powder to being very "cut up" to moguls. Falling snow can also change in consistency over short periods of time going from dry light powder to wetter snow even to rain and back. Ideally in low natural snowfall areas such as the US Northeast man made snow is used to create a base layer that is covered with natural snow groomed or ungroomed for the best possible conditions.
Which is better skiing on natural or manmade snow?
