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The failure of a weak snow layer buried below cohesive slab layers is anecessary, but insufficient, condition for the release of a dry-snow slabavalanche. The size of the crack in the weak layer must also exceed acritical length to propagate across a slope. In contrast to pioneeringshear-based approaches, recent developments account for weak layer collapseand allow for better explaining typical observations of remote triggeringfrom low-angle terrain. However, these new models predict a critical lengthfor crack propagation that is almost independent of slope angle, a rathersurprising and counterintuitive result. Based on discrete element simulationswe propose a new analytical expression for the critical crack length. Thisnew model reconciles past approaches by considering for the first time thecomplex interplay between slab elasticity and the mechanical behavior of theweak layer including its structural collapse. The crack begins to propagatewhen the stress induced by slab loading and deformation at the crack tipexceeds the limit given by the failure envelope of the weak layer. The modelcan reproduce crack propagation on low-angle terrain and the decrease incritical length with increasing slope angle as modeled in numericalexperiments. The good agreement of our new model with extensive field dataand the ease of implementation in the snow cover model SNOWPACK opens apromising prospect for improving avalanche forecasting

Snow fracture in relation to slab avalanche release: critical state for the onset of crack propagation