Phenomenon Causes Ski Trail To Sever In Half
Weather blogger @markus_bayrhofer posted a photo of a ski slope with a massive gouge in the middle of the trail.
The caption was simple. "Yesterday in St. Anton/Kapall there was a breaking point on the prepared track, but it has been repaired in the meantime."
All lifts are open at Hoch Imst, the ski resort situated on a plateau above the town of Imst, in Austria, and the resort currently has a base of 35 inches.
It's been a big winter for Austria so far. The resorts may not be joining the "POWstria train" yet though!
And the split wasn't just St. Anton/Kapall... according to Markus, a slope broke in Kitzbühel too!
"Even in Hoch Imst the slope is broken!"
If you have taken an Avy 1 course (which we all should!) you may identify this phenomenon as "snow creep."
Snow creep is defined as a continuous, downhill movement of snow cover, where avalanche concern is possible or likely.
The split looks like an ice wedge, which occurs when water freezes and then expands. Of course this is a smaller scale, but the idea of snow getting wet and then shifting to affect the base layer we see when we ski is very real.
Tangentially, glide avalanches are released when the entire cover of snow "glides" over the ground. They usually occur when the slope is steep and the ground is smooth. These type of avalanches are not human triggered, making them difficult to predict.
All of this makes for great chairlift conversation topics on your next ride up with strangers! Make some friends, freak 'em out!
But the real question is: would you hit the gap?
Related: Austria Experiencing "Unreal" Start To Ski Season
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