Public Field Report

Observation Details

Signs of Unstable Snow

Observations

We performed a compression test on a northeast facing slope that was 24 - 27 degrees. Around the 8th or 9th tap from the shoulder we had a sudden planar fracture on surface hoar about 70cm down in the snowpack. We also performed an extended column test and the failure propagated all the way across the column. We also had another failure at 100cm on a layer of facets (snowpack measured 140cm). The higher up surface hoar weak layer failed much more rapidly and frequently than the faceted weak layer.