I've heard they have 50!

Isn't one enough. Unless they have different kinds of snow. I guess when you spend most of you time in snow, you discern the differences in the snow more. It's gotta be around five, I think.

It has been proven many times that the whole "Eskimo have hundreds of words for snow" story is complete hogwash. It was started as an urban myth by some idiot anthropologist in 1911. Besides, Eskimo is only one tribe of the Inuit people who live in the area of northern Canada and above. In reality they have just as many words for snow as we do.

When I looked it up under wikipedia.com it says that there are many Eskimo languages and many words related to snow in each language. In the same article: an editorial in The New York Times gave the number as one hundred.

It's difficult to give your question an accurate answer because there isn't just one Eskimo language, so you would have to specify which Eskimo language you wanted to know about. In Yup'ik, which is one type of Eskimo language, there are about 14 different words for snow, which when you think about is probably about the same amount as we have in the English language.

I have always heard there are 52 but I found this list of a hundred. tlapa powder snow tlacringit snow that is crusted on the surface kayi drifting snow tlapat still snow klin remembered snow naklin forgotten snow tlamo snow that falls in large wet flakes tlatim snow that falls in small flakes tlaslo snow that falls slowly tlapinti snow that falls quickly kripya snow that has melted and refrozen tliyel snow that has been marked by wolves tliyelin snow that has been marked by Eskimos blotla blowing snow pactla snow that has been packed down hiryla snow in beards wa-ter melted snow tlayinq snow mixed with mud quinaya snow mixed with Husky shit quinyaya snow mixed with the shit of a lead dog slimtla snow that is crusted on top but soft underneath kriplyana snow that looks blue in the early morning puntla a mouthful of snow because you fibbed allatla baked snow fritla fried snow gristla deep fried snow MacTla snow burgers jatla snow between your fingers or toes, or in groin-folds dinliltla little balls of snow that cling to Husky fur sulitlana green snow mentlana pink snow tidtla snow used for cleaning ertla snow used by Eskimo teenagers for exquisite erotic rituals kriyantli snow bricks hahatla small packages of snow given as gag gifts semtla partially melted snow ontla snow on objects intla snow that has drifted indoors shlim slush warintla snow used to make Eskimo daiquiris mextla snow used to make Eskimo Margaritas penstla the idea of snow mortla snow mounded on dead bodies ylaipi tomorrow's snow nylaipin the snows of yesteryear ("neiges d'antan") pritla our children's snow nootlin snow that doesn't stick rotlana quickly accumulating snow skriniya snow that never reaches the ground bluwid snow that's shaken down from objects in the wind tlanid snow that's shaken down and then mixes with sky-falling snow ever-tla a spirit made from mashed fermented snow talini snow angels priyakli snow that looks like it's falling upward chiup snow that makes halos blontla snow that's shaken off in the mudroom tlalman snow sold to German tourists tlalam snow sold to American tourists tlanip snow sold to Japanese tourists protla snow packed around caribou meat attla snow that as it falls seems to create nice pictures in the air sotla snow sparkling with sunlight tlun snow sparkling with moonlight astrila snow sparkling with starlight clim snow sparkling with flashlight or headlight tlapi summer snow krikaya snow mixed with breath ashtla expected snow that's wagered on (depth, size of flakes) huantla special snow rolled into "snow reefers" and smoked by wild Eskimo youth tla-na-na snow mixed with the sound of old rock and roll from a portable radio depptla a small snowball, preserved in Lucite, that had been handled by Johnny Depp trinkyi first snow of the year tronkyin last snow of the year shiya snow at dawn katiyana night snow tlinro snow vapor nyik snow with flakes of widely varying size ragnitla two snowfalls at once, creating moire patterns akitla snow falling on water privtla snow melting in the spring rain chahatlin snow that makes a sizzling sound as it falls on water hootlin snow that makes a hissing sound as the individual flakes brush geltla snow dollars briktla good building snow striktla snow that's no good for building erolinyat snow drifts containing the imprint of crazy lovers chachat swirling snow that drives you nuts krotla snow that blinds you tlarin snow that can be sculpted into the delicate corsages Eskimo girls pin to their whale parkas at prom time motla snow in the mouth sotla snow in the south maxtla snow that hides the whole village tlayopi snow drifts you fall into and die truyi avalanche of snow tlapripta snow that burns your scalp and eyelids carpitla snow glazed with ice tla ordinary snow

Pretty soon, none, if Al Gore is right -- which he isn't, of course.