Characteristics of snow gliding on rock

Abstract

Field measurements were made of snow gliding on steep, smooth rock slabs. Supporting dala included snowpack properties, snow rock interface temperatures, air temperatures and precipitation. In this paper, the temporal and spatial dependence of gliding is discussed from two seasons of measurements. The results showed that the basic temporal and spatial characteristics repeated from year to year at the site. The relationship of the measurements to snow-gliding constitutive relations and applications is briefly discussed.