Snow Pit Chart - Simplified
ADVERTISEMENT
1SNOW PIT PROFILE CHART
Date ______________ General Area _______________________________________
Elevation ____________
Location of Pit_________________________________________________________
Aspect ___________
Weather & Temperature:
Slope Angle __________
Any Observed Instability (slabs, cracks, whoomps, etc.):
STABILITY FORECAST
Other Notes:
1 - Stable (Green)
2 - 50/50 (Yellow)
3 - Very Unstable (Red)
Crystal & Grain Symbols
(Note: slightly simplified from ICSI Standards)
+ +
Newly Precipitated (Original crystals
+
identifiable)
/ /
Partially Rounded (Branches, irregular
/
shapes)
Rounded Grains
Faceted Crystals (Sharp edges and corners,
glassy smooth faces)
Depth Hoar (Faceted, angular crystals with
striations.)
Rounding of Faceted Crystals
Surface Hoar (Striated - sometimes
needle-like)
O O
Melt Freeze
Ice Masses
Free Water Symbols
Moist - A snowball can be
Dry Snow
made but water not visible
with a hand lens
Wet - A snowball can be made easily
and water can be seen between grains
Very Wet - Water
Slush - Water
can be pressed
runs out easily
out of the ball
Shear Characteristics
Q1 - Breaks clean and smooth like it’s spring loaded
Q2 - Breaks on a smooth plane but more stubborn
Q3 - Breaks on a rough, broken plane
Compression Test (CT)
(30 cm x 30cm - 1’ x 1’)
(10 Wrist Taps / 10 Elbow Taps / 10 Shoulder Hits)
CTV - Fractures when isolating column (Red Flag)
CT1-CT10 - Fractures during first 10 taps (Red Flag)
CT11-CT20 - Fractures during elbow taps (Yellow)
CT21-CT30 - Fractures during shoulder hits (Green)
CTN or CTX - No Fracture (Green)
(90cm x 30cm)
Extended Column Test (ECT)
(3’ x 1’)
(10 Wrist Taps / 10 Elbow Taps / 10 Shoulder Hits)
ECTPV - Propagation: Entire column fractures (Red!)
ECTP# - Propagation: Entire column after # taps (Red)
ECTN# - Part of column fractures after # taps (Green)
ECTX - No Fracture (Green but try different shear tests)
Rutschblock Scores (RB)
(2m x 1.5m - 6’ x 4.5’)
RB
1 - Slides during digging (Red Flag)
RB2 - Slides with gentle step (Red Flag)
RB3 - Slides with knee compression (Red Flag)
RB4 - Slides with one jump (Yellow Flag)
RB5- Slides with two jumps (Yellow Flag)
RB6 - Slides with repeated jumps (Green)
Snow Layer Temperature:
RB7 - Nothing produces smooth break (Green)
ADVERTISEMENT
0 votes
Related Articles
Related forms
Related Categories
Parent category: Business