Snow cornice Snow cornice A snow cornice or simply cornice (from the Italian cornice meaning "ledge") is an overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain and along the sides of gullies. They form by wind blowing snow over sharp terrain breaks (e.g. the crest of the mountain) where it attaches and builds out horizontally. This build-up is most common on the steeper and leeward sides of mountains. Cornices are extremely dangerous and travelling above or below them should be avoided. When a cornice "collapses", it breaks in from the cornice to the top of the peak;
Sharp's Ridge exception being the Great Smokies, which are part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. To the north of Sharp's Ridge on clear days is another excellent panorama, this one of the Cumberland Escarpment, the edge of the Cumberland Plateau that stretches from Sand Mountain in Alabama northeastward into Kentucky. Local peaks clearly visible from Sharp's Ridge include Hinch Mountain near Crossville to the Southwest, Frozen Head above Petros, Flag Pole Mountain (part of Cross Mountain) above Lake City, northward to Point Peak above Cumberland Gap. AT&T microwave dishes aimed at those peaks verify their locations from Sharp's Ridge. Sharp's