Stuffblock Test
Karl Birkeland and Ron Johnson of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche
Center in Bozeman, Montana have developed what they call the
"stuff-block test", which I think is a great test. Take a stuff sack,
fill it with 10 pounds of snow (weigh it with a lightweight fishing
scale), then, place the shovel blade on top of the column and drop the
stuff sack onto the column from progressively greater heights until it
fails. In other words, it is similar to the compression test but more
quantifiable than using the varying weight of people's arms.
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Results - Stuffblock Test: |
What it means |
| Breaks with drop from
20 cm or less |
Red light |
| Breaks with drop from
20-40 cm |
Yellow light |
| Breaks with drop from
over 40 cm |
Green light |
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Advantages: |
Disadvantages |
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Quick |
| |
Easy to interpret |
| |
Works for any type of weak-layer,
especially effective with faceted snow |
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Works well for non-skiers since you
dont need skis |
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|
| |
Small sample size. You
need to do several tests for consistent results |
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Doesn't work on flat slopes |
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