There's an old saying that the Indigenous people of North America have 100 or more words for snow and ice, but even in English we have a fair few terms – some better known than others.

One term which may not be familiar to many Australians is "rime", and there was plenty of it in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales this week so we thought we'd tell you what rime is and how it forms.

First, a few pics:

Image: It's prime time rime time on the boulders of the Snowy Mountains. Source: @Trashyhonky on Instagram.

Image: Tree grew a great big branch overnight! Source: @Trashyhonky on Instagram.

The images in this story were all taken high on the Main Range opposite Guthega, a village which is part of Perisher ski resort. Pretty much every object up there right now is covered in a layer of ice. That ice is in fact rime.

So what is rime and how does it form?

Rime is caused when supercooled water droplets in fog or clouds come into contact with a surface – in this case trees and rocks – and freeze on impact.

Meteorologists talk about soft rime and hard rime.

• Soft rime occurs in calm, windless conditions and is crystalline in nature
• Hard rime forms when it's windy, which happens a lot in the Australian Alps. That's how you end up with these very cool (in all senses of the word) shapes that face into the wind.

Image: Rocky rime. Source: @Trashyhonky on Instagram.

Meanwhile it is snowing lightly in the Aussie mainland snowfields as we write this story just before lunchtime on Friday.

The southernmost resorts have done best out of the current system, with a few centimetres of fresh stuff at Mt Baw Baw in Victoria, where it is much needed. Tasmania has also gotten a little love from the weather gods this week.

Image: They don't have much snowmaking and natural snow can be sketchy, but the hardy snowlovers of Tasmania make the most of what there is at Ben Lomond, near Launceston. Source: ski.com.au.

For the major resorts in NSW and Vic, the news is not great for a big snowfall on the short-term horizon, but at least the main trails should be freshened by snowmaking with a string of lovely cold nights ahead.

Click on the links for for the latest ski conditions at Thredbo, Perisher, Charlotte Pass, Selwyn (NSW) and Mt Buller, Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Baw Baw (Vic).

And as ever, don't forget to check our snow page for the latest forecasts, snow cams, and more.