Variability...

[PwdrHound]

Just came across this little video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrK8JuWb1Bo)on the Tube....

Scary Stuff!!! Backs up an article I recently read in an old issue of Off Piste Journal (http://www.offpistemag.com/themag/pdfs/op39.pdf) describing Spatial Variability in the San Juans! (Page 10)

[bristlecone]

A nice discussion in today's (3/11/2010) advisory:

We often refer to spatial variability in our advisories. This may not be a self explanatory concept so I'll dive into a bit today. In the context we use spatial variability, we are talking about the fact that snow changes as you move from one place to the next. This could mean that you are in soft slab in the mouth of Right Gully and a few steps later you are wondering why your crampons are on your pack as you wail the tip of your boot into a bulletproof ice layer. It also means that when you dig a stability pit that found a weak layer 25 cm down with hard slab sitting over it, there is a really good chance you won't find the same profile in just a few feet in any direction from where you are. A high degree of spatial variability is the norm on Mt. Washington. This occurs for many reasons but I think the winds of Mt. Washington are responsible for it more often than not. As a visitor to Mt. Washington you should understand that inconsistencies in the snowpack are common. This means that you shouldn't rely on one or two snow tests to judge the overall stability of a slope. We have found if you want to know the stability of a particular start zone you have to be in it to find out. Sort of a Catch 22. A better approach is to constantly assess the snowpack with every step and try to gather as much information about the bigger picture. This will give you a better understanding of what is really going on than having your head in one snow pit for a half an hour.

[PWDR8S]

Wow.... nice find Pwdrhound and good follow up Bristle!
I've been up to the rockpile a number of time in the past 2 months and that is what I've found in many places.... too unnerving for me to hang out and ski where I want. So I bail and head out to come back another day. :eek:

Glad you posted that..... Good food for thought for others to contemplate.

[Seeker]

Wow. Thanks all. Very educational.