East Bowl of Silver Fork 11-13-03 11/14/2003

		On a fracture line profile, Andrew McLean of the Utah Avalanche Center examines a block with a very clean, easy break typical of avalanches that release on surface hoar. The surface hoar formed on the surface of the snow during a clear, calm and humid period and then became buried with new snow. Surface hoar is extremely tricky as it is very difficult to detect in a snow pit and it's very "pockety" meaning that it occurs in some places and not on others. It also produces unusual avalanches in that they can occur on an unusually gentle slope steepness and sometimes they break lower on a slope than you would expect. In this case, the surface hoar existed right at the ridge top, which is rare for surface hoar, as it is often destroyed by wind before it is buried. The following photos show some of the ways to recognize surface hoar in a snow pit.
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