OCR Text |
Show A conference on Slope Maintenance Problems was held at Winter Park, Colorado, on February 6 & 7, 1962. Most of the members who participated in this meeting were directly connected with ski area management. However, I was asked to participate by means of making penetrometer graphs on prepared plots in an attempt to find which method of slope packing would produce snow that was less likely to be displaced by continual 6kier action, the largest factor in the production of moguls. On the 4th of February, Mr. Steve Bradley prepared 12 plots by various means of packing commonly used by ski areas in the high alpine zone ( Colorado). During the afternoon of the 6th of February, penetrometer tests were taken, one test per plot, on each plot. The penetrometer - ram sonde - is an instrument developed by the Swiss to investigate the nature of the snowpack. It is a sectional rod, graduated in centimeters, which is driven into the snowpack by blows of a falling weight. The objective is to determine the resistance to penetration of the various layers within the snowpack. The method of using this instrument is described in USDA Handbook No. 194 " Snow Avalanches" ( FSH2 2332.8D. The plots were located in an undisturbed area and the different methods of packing took place about 48 hours before the penetrometer tests were made. See series of bar graphs ( ram profiles) on attached chart. The profiles are all drawn using the same scale. The computations made by using the standard formula all are in the metric system. |