Snow-Slab Studies at Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract A study of 30 slab avalanches at Whistler Mountain ski area, British Columbia, indicates that slab instability initiates with highest frequency on 40° slopes, that the temperature at the slab bed surface is about –5°C averaged for the 30 cases, and that on the average the slabs have a snow...
| Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1980
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000010613 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000010613 |
| Summary: | Abstract A study of 30 slab avalanches at Whistler Mountain ski area, British Columbia, indicates that slab instability initiates with highest frequency on 40° slopes, that the temperature at the slab bed surface is about –5°C averaged for the 30 cases, and that on the average the slabs have a snow density of about 220 kg/m 3 . These results agree well with results from earlier studies. A rich variety of crystals appear in photomicrographs of samples extracted from the bed surfaces of the 30 slabs. In many cases, crystals extracted from the plane of critical weakness do not differ markedly from crystals extracted from adjacent strata. |
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