Firn (; from Swiss German "last year's", cognate with
before) is partially compacted
névé, a type of
snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been
recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is
ice that is at an intermediate stage between
snow and glacial ice. Firn has the appearance of wet sugar, but has a hardness that makes it extremely resistant to shovelling. Its density generally ranges from 550 kg/m³-830 kg/m³, and it can often be found underneath the snow that accumulates at the head of a
glacier.