Tuesday, January 14, 2014

A Post That Didn't Pan Out

     I live near the Canadian Rockies and this is a great time of the year to ski , snow board, snow shoe, snowmobile and just be out in the mountains. It's also peak avalanche time. We hear about avalanches everyday as highways are blocked or people who are caught and killed in and avalanche.

    I taught outdoor education and took my students on field trips to the Rockies.We had to be very careful about avalanches. Avalanche science has come a long way since I taught. The first thing we would show the kids is the different layers of snow and how there were weak layers that would allow snow over top to start sliding down a slope.  With differences in temperature , wind and snowfall, conditions could change in the snow pack and avalanche risk could rapidly change. We always had a student or two who would protest when we gave an avalanche area a wide berth. They wanted to take a short cut and cross an avalanche field.


You can see barely see snow layers

     So how did my post not pan out. I was going to take a  picture of the snow on my snow table. I knew there were different layers of snow. I thought I could take a sharp shovel and expose the different layers of snow. This is where the plan fell apart. The snow layers did not show prominently  and my photography skill was not going to get me to where I could show the layers. 

     So with all the snow here people have been shoveling snow off the house roofs. So, okay I'll throw that in to my challenged post. Now if you look at the snow on the house you can see distinct layers of snow. By the time I got the pictures of snow on the house I had given up on the idea of showing snow conditions for avalanche hazard.

You get some idea of the amount of snow on my roof.

So the guy who fell down the stairs is on his roof shoveling snow?

    So by now I'm going around in circles and some readers have probably given up on this post. 

    So all I can do is wish myself better luck on my next post.

20 comments:

  1. oh, DO be careful!!! that's a lot of snow, and YES, a guy who has just recently taken a spill shouldn't be climbing on his roof! :)

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    1. My roof is very flat and it was not icy so I was okay.

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  2. I know exactly what you mean about snow layers. What I find is that some layers look dirtier than others but yours looks nice and white. We must get all the North Dakota dirt! We have a steel roof and the snow slides. One of the things we didn't want to do was to shovel snow off the roof...you be careful! :)

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    1. Home in Sask had great layers of dirt in the snow.
      We usuallsydo not get a lot of snow. I only remember one other time when I shoveled snow off the roof.

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  3. What I do know is that you have a LOT of snow. And actually I do know about snow layers and avalanches. We have a big problem here in the cascades keeping the passes open. Highways are closed periodically for avalanche control.

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    1. Snow and how it works is pretty interesting stuff.

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  4. I would have expected much steeper roofs. The snow would not collect as easily then.

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    1. Other than this winter we do not get a lot of snow. Some winters next to no snow.

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  5. That is quite a challenge to get the snow from your roof down. Would have liked to see how you do it, maybe Mrs.Red could take a picture?

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    1. I just took a scoop shovel and took it shovel by shovel and threw it off the roof. Some people use a push snow shovel but I think that could damage the shingles.

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  6. I am so impressed by all that snow, Red. And yes, please be careful. Nice to have an idea to show us, but it's good that you don't take any chances. :-)

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    1. It's one of those situations where it's dangerous to cross the street but we still do it. There are times not to go on the roof. One day a high wind came up and I got off the roof immediately.

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  7. I would have thought that houses in your area, where snow is so plentiful, would have pitched roofs so the snow would fall off. Still not a bad post. Take care.

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    1. This snow is much out of the ordinary. Some years we have hardly any snow.

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  8. Wow - you sure have a lot of snow there. Ours has been melting quickly with the warmer temps we've been having.

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    1. We had plus 7 today so snow started melting.

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  9. Wow, that is a lot of snow on your roof! Be careful there.

    If I'm looking in the right place, I think I see the snow layers in the first photo. I never knew that about snow!

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    1. Yes , you can see layers but I wanted them to pop right out. I still have more than a few things to learn about photography.

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  10. HiYa Red - Been away for a bit, and an wondering about your footwear on your roof - hope you had your spikes on, eh. My neighbour fell off his garage roof, but is OK - just a bump on the head. Your snow on your roof looks about like it is here. We are just letting nature take its course with the sun coming out and melting. We went from -32 to +14 overnight and the sun yesterday had me in tee shirt and eating lunch out on the deck, surrounded by snow, eh. I have seen an avalanche, but only on TV News and it looks scary enough to me. You be careful, Eh.

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  11. I can see the snow layers. I have a feeling we are not too far in distance.. or maybe. Wonderful heartfelt blog. Be careful out there.

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