Articles

By Doug Chabot.  Poster presented at the 2004 ISSW, and published in the Proceedings of the 2004 ISSW, Jackson, Wyoming.

By Ron Johnson and Karl Birkeland. Paper presented at the 2002 ISSW, and published in the Proceedings of the 2002 ISSW, Penticton, British Columbia.

By Doug Chabot. Paper presented at the 2002 ISSW, and published in the Proceedings of the 2002 ISSW, Penticton, British Columbia.

A few years ago I was climbing in the Alaska Range. My partner and I were stuck 26 pitches up the first ascent of a mixed face five days into a seven-day storm. As I looked down the face covered with rockbands, couloirs and pockets of snow....

A Comparison Study of the Shredblock and Rutschblock Snow Stablility Tests by Andy Gleason. Presented at the 1998 ISSW, and to be published in the Proceedings of the 1998 ISSW, Sunriver, Oregon.

The Shredblock test is a field test to measure the relative instability of the snowpack in a backcountry setting with minimal equipment. The Shredblock test is based on the Rutschblock test but uses a snowboard instead of skis to load an isolated column of snow.

Methods

By Karl Birkeland. Paper presented at the 1998 ISSW, and to be published in the Proceedings of the 1998 ISSW, Sunriver, Oregon.

Karl Birkeland1, Ron Johnson2, and Scott Schmidt3

Abstract

By Karl Birkeland and Cary Mock. Published in 1996 in Mountain Research and Development, 16(3), 281-286.

Published in the Dec 2014 Carve

Put your shovel in the snow!

This simple act could save your life. Pausing to assemble your shovel and dig a few scoops can sometimes reveal a hidden but, once exposed, obvious weak layer. Taking a few more minutes to perform an Extended Column Test (ECT) may give you strong evidence of unstable slopes. When conditions seem good most people have already made their decision to ski or not by the time they reach the top of a slope, but an ECT might change your mind and save your life. Conversely, if you decide to not ski because of dangerous conditions there is no need to dig. Regardless of experience, if we play in avalanche terrain we should hunt for instability.

When venturing into the backcountry, answering these two questions is essential when assessing a slope to ride:

Is the terrain capable of producing an avalanche?

-and-

Can the snow slide?

Avalanches happen when four ingredients are present:  a slab, a weak layer, a trigger and a slope steep enough to slide. A key problem when assessing slope angle is that most slopes have varying degrees of steepness.  It is critical for riders to assess slope angle frequently.