Vermont State University outdoor education professor Ben Mirkin shared an interesting video to social media demonstrating slope angles and propagation in avalanches with a little in-class experiment. They created a snow pack model using layers of flour, sugar, and more flower, then tipped the model until a miniature avalanche occurred.
Obviously this is not a 100% accurate avalanche and it should not be thought of as “this is how avalanches happen”, but it is a neat little in-home experiment to watch. It’s like a model volcano!
In this case the “avalanche” occurred right around 41°, well within the slope angle range for most avalanches. The most common slope angles for avalanches sit between 30° and 45°, though they are possible both above and below that range.
Watch
