Wind eroded snow, which often looks rough like frozen waves. Usually found on windward slopes. Sastrugi: Wind erodes from the windward side of an obstacle and deposits on the lee side. We call the eroded snow sastrugi. You can recognize it by its rough, sand-blasted texture. We usually think of wind eroded snow as being stable because stress on buried weak layers has been decreased by wind eroding the overlying snow. Conversely, wind will deposit that same snow on to the lee slopes, which increases weight on buried weak layers. Sastrugi is not always stable snow. Remember you only see the surface texture. Perhaps the wind only eroded an insignificant amount of snow and a buried weak layer still lingers below just waiting for a trigger. As usual, all slopes are guilty until proven innocent by the usual battery of snow stability tests Additional Terms: Anchors Hard Slab Avalanche Slide Aspect High Danger Sluff Avalanche High Marking Snowpit Avalanche Path Isothermal Soft Slab Avalanche Avalanche Transceiver Layer, Snow Stability Bed Surface Leeward Stability Test Collapse Loading Starting Zone Concave Slope Loose Snow Avalanche Stepping Down Considerable Danger Low Avalanche Hazard Sun Crust Convex Slope Melt-Freeze Snow Surface Hoar Cornice Metamorphism, Snow Sympathetic Trigger Corn Snow Moderate Danger Temperature Gradient Couloir Persistent Weak Layers Terrain Trap Cross Loading Point-Release Track Crown Face Probe Trigger Danger Ratings Propagation Trigger Point Deep Slab Avalanche Rain Crust Upside-Down Storm Density, Snow Remote Trigger Weak Layer Depth Hoar Rime Weak Interface Dry Snow Avalanche Runout Zone Wet Snow Avalanche Extreme Danger Sastrugi Windward Faceted Snow Settlement Wind Loading Fracture Ski or Slope Cut Wind Slab Glide Skinning, Skin Track Whumpf Graupel Slab   This glossary contains excerpts from "STAYING ALIVE IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN", by Bruce Tremper -