- Snow bridge
:"For another meaning, see
Avalanche snow bridge "Snow bridge is an arc across acrevasse , a crack in rock, acreek , or some other opening in terrain. [Elaine Freedgood (2000) Victorian Writing about Risk: Imagining a Safe England in a Dangerous World, ISBN 0521781086 [http://books.google.com/books?id=VnUZ3QKII-kC&pg=PA193&dq=%22snow+bridge+is%22&sig=kuzTUtd0Q0fB6dVlvdTzKQz-9Hg#PPA193,M1 p.193] ] It is typically formed by snow drift, which first creates a cornice, which may gradually grow to reach the other side of the opening.Dangers
A snow bridge may completely cover the opening and thus presents danger: it creates an illusion of unbroken surface while hiding the opening under a layer of snow of unknown thickness, possibly only several centimeters thick.
Snow bridges may also be formed inside a crevasse making it appear shallow. [ [http://www.chauvinguides.com/BernerJournal/bernerjournal1.htm Berner Oberland Haute Route Journal] ]
Since a snow bridge is thicker and stronger at the edge of a crevasse, a fall through a bridge usually happens at some distance from the crevasse edge. ["Mountain Operations" (1947) By United States War Dept [http://books.google.com/books?id=odEsAAAAIAAJ&q=%22snow+bridge+is%22&dq=%22snow+bridge+is%22&pgis=1 p. 204] ]
ee also
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Ice bridge References
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