What does a Glide avalanche refer to?

• A. Crown
• B. Glide avalanche
• C. Debris
• D. Bed surface

Answer: (B)

A glide avalanche is a deep, slow-moving release where the entire snowpack slides as a single block along a smooth bed surface, riding on a glide plane between the snow and the ground. This mechanism means the failure happens at the interface with the ground rather than within weak layers inside the snow. Because the motion is along the bed, you often don’t see a pronounced crown fracture, and the ground beneath may appear polished or bare. In short, the defining feature is the snow gliding over the bed surface rather than breaking up within the snowpack or leaving typical debris patterns.