Snowy Mountains (2025)
Folded from one uncut square of kami
Crease pattern: Below
Diagrams: Not yet

Snowy Mountains: And now for a break from the super-complex.

I tend to design complex models that are difficult, I would even say painful to fold. You might think that someone who designs complex models would have an easy time designing simple ones, but no. To some extent, complexity can be a crutch, an excuse to cut corners and fudge details. It’s also a separate skill to develop simple models with clean lines, effective proportions, and a smooth folding sequence. Case in point: Snowy Mountains. I have spent just as much time finicking over this model as much more complex ones.

The inspiration for snowy mountains comes from living in places like Vancouver, BC and Banff/Canmore, Alberta and seeing a handful of mountains topped with snow off in the distance at any time of year. My first draft portrayed the mountains as steep alps with 30° angles (and had some other imperfections). A fellow origamist suggested 45° angles instead, so the edges of the mountain would align with the angles in the snowcap.

Neither of these options felt quite right both aesthetically and from a folding perspective. I felt the best answer lay somewhere in between 30-45°, and for that I turned to an art friend who suggested the golden ratio. In the final version (see the top of the post), the base of one of the mountains divided by its height is equal to the golden ratio (~1.618). And the same goes for the total height divided by the height up to the top of the snowcap.

I’m not sure if there is anything intrinsically aesthetic about the golden ratio, but for now it’s a good compromise.