The Importance of Tracking Early Season Weak Layers in the Snowpack… How Long do They Persist? This video and text was originally published on the Utah Avalanche Center website This is a presentation from Utah Avalanche Center director Mark Staples on tracking early season snow and how it may form persistent weak layers as well as how those layers heal. It’s October and it’s snowing in the mountains. Early season snow is exciting, but it can […] Avalanche AvyBrains | October 27, 2021 0 Comments
Study Finds Avalanche Victims With Long Burial Times (≥60 Min) Have Only 19% Chance of Survival Surviving an avalanche burial is completely correlated with burial time. As a rule of thumb, the longer someone’s been buried the lower the chance of survival. A recent study has been published where researchers looked at all completely buried avalanche victims with a burial duration of ≥60 min between 1997 and 2018 in Switzerland, and drew conclusions from the retrospective data. […] Avalanche AvyBrains | June 11, 2021 0 Comments
What is Graupel? And Why Do Skiers Love It? Graupel: those soft, little hail-looking snowballs that fall from the sky during storms and make the ski conditions awesome. They’re not quite snowflakes and not quite hail pellets—so what are they? The World Atlas defines graupel as such: “Graupel, also referred to as snow pellets or soft hail, is a form of precipitation which forms when super-cooled droplets of water […] Brains WeatherBrains | May 24, 2021 0 Comments
Backcountry Safety Basics Part 1: Snow Science Clay Malott | February 8, 2021 Likes Tweets 0 Comments
Brain Post: Why is Snow White? Snow is made of water, which appears totally clear and not as any specific color—so why is snow white? The answer to this mysterious question is simpler than you may think and has to do with the science of how we percieve it. Related: The Art & Science of Snowflakes Science tells us that snow is frozen water, or a […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | January 28, 2021 0 Comments
74 Human-Triggered Avalanches in Colorado in 6 Days | Extremely Weak Snowpack For Much of State Right Now View this post on Instagram A post shared by Friends of CAIC (@friendsofcaic) With much of the inter-mountain West being dry in regards to precipitation for the first part of this winter, snow instabilities have formed. The snowpack is weak in a lot of places—and dangerous. Especially in Colorado. Related: The SnowBrains Podcast – Episode #4 – What’s […] Avalanche AvyBrains | December 16, 2020 1 Comment
Winter Before Halloween in Montana Above 5500-6000 Feet! | Layered snowpack, Windslabs, & 1 Reported Avalanche Conditions report from Oct. 21, 2020 It’s already winter in the high elevation areas of Montana — beware! “Winter before Halloween? Yes, above 5500-6000 feet. Layered snowpack, thin windslabs, at least 1 reported slide. More snow and wind coming. Carry beacons, shovels, and probes if you’re riding or climbing above snowline. Check for conditions updates at flatheadavalanche.org” — Friends of […] Conditions Report SnowBrains | October 22, 2020 0 Comments
VIDEO: Sierra Avalanche Center Shows Current Instability in the Snowpack, Reveals Persistent Weak Layer This observation was taken on Hidden Peak yesterday, March 17, 2020. Listen for persistent weak layer failure. Full Observation can be found on the Sierra Avalanche Center website. Avalanche AvyBrains | March 18, 2020 0 Comments
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