Eskimos have words for different varieties of this; api is for when it's on the ground
[PAR] The claim that Eskimo[1] languages have numerous words for "snow" has often ... 
of words -- and the numbers given vary in different sources -- for a substance that 
... through its many mutations and transmogrifications as it has been repeated ... [
2] Boas goes on to say that the same language has a variety of terms for seals.