First off there is three main components to an avalanche, without them you can't have an avalanche. They go as follows: 1) snow 2) slope 3) snow instability. Secondly, there are two kinds of avalanches; slab and loose snow. Loose snow are minor and usually never exceed 20 miles per hour. While slab avalanches are the destructive and deadly mountain slides. It is not uncommon for one of these to destroy a small town or forest. Since loose snow avalanches aren't very dangerous, I will discuss slab avalanches. The fundamentals of how these snow masses occur, what to look for when testing and just all-together prevention.

The basic chemistry behind a slab avalanche is when one layer of snow does not bond to the layer below it. Any ki

nd of temperature change, fresh snowfall, the weight of a person, all can cause the slab to break free from the lower layer. The formation of a slab is possible in many ways. One way is for the snow to develop a crust and then there be more snowfall. Since snow doesn't bond to the crust it becomes a potential for an avalanche zone. Another way is for surface hoar to develop, or large ice crystal on the snow. This is usually caused by condensation on the snow surface. This will also have poor bonding characteristics, and cause for a potential slide. The crystal itself is also very stable and will stay in that formation until melted usually. Slab avalanches usually only occur between 35-45 degree slopes and on a concave slope. There are ways possible to test for an avalanche zone. These tests have been developed over the years by ski patrollers, avalanche safety, and seasoned mountaineers. Make sure whenever performing an avalanche test you are not in an area where you could possibly trigger or be in the path of an avalanche.

Even though reading about these tests in books and on the internet it doesn't mean you know what your doing. Its best to take an avalanche course where trained specialists show you what to do in actual avalanche environment. It's especially important to take an avalanche course particular to your area, since snow is different in depending on the mountains.

Another test used is called the Rutschblock test. This is pretty much a giant compression test. Thi

Some common words found in the essay are:
Safety White, 1/2 feet, slab avalanches, 1 1/2 feet, loose snow, 1 1/2, layer snow, column cut, avalanche course, 1/2 feet top, test test, dangerous ski, feet top,
Approximate Word count = 1002
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)