Gliding avalanche

By Alec Foglia

Gliding (or sliding) avalanches (figure 2) manifest themselves like slab avalanches by a break in the snowpack, causing the entire snowpack to slide, and can therefore be a problem for transport routes, but are generally less dangerous for humans. These avalanches occur only on smooth grounds such as grass or rocky slabs. The steeper the slope, the earlier the snow slides. Often, but not necessarily always, mantle slip begins slowly and where glide cracks are formed first.