As ski patrollers, avalanche forecasters, and ski guides understand, digging at least one snowpit a day is essential to analyzing snow stability. These professionals can record a full-blown pit, complete with enough information to satisfy a lawyer, but when the clock is ticking, or the powder is calling, they do quick pits.

A snowpit is a vertical wall about five feet wide, cut into the snowpack to expose the layers of snow. The focus of the pit is to observe the weak layer of snow that may cause an avalanche. Quick pits – collecting essential snowpack information in 10 minutes – is an advanced technique. Start by taking an avalanche class and reading “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain” by Bruce Tremper. Then spend a full season head down, bum up in a snowpit measuring everything from snow temperature to snow density, and recording all observations in a pit book. By logging at least 20, one-hour-long data pits in one winter you’ll gain a base knowledge of snow. Then you can work on shrinking your pits to ten minutes. All avalanche professionals go through this process.

The goal of a quick pit is to gather information on three weak-layer characteristics including the stability test score, the shear quality, and the snowpack structure. The most common stability test is the compression test, which shows the weak layer (which is normally obscured) behaving as in an avalanche. The other two weak-layer characteristics, shear quality and snowpack structure, are also gathered from the compression test.

While important, snowpits are plagued with problems. They sample a tiny area – about 10 square feet – so never base your entire terrain selection on a single snowpit. Another problem is that snow is extremely complicated and far detached from the big picture of surviving avalanche terrain. Other techniques, such as monitoring red flags, are more effective at avoiding avalanches. The biggest problem with snowpits is they are time consuming. When the powder is epic, everyone has limited tolerance for lengthy pit sessions. Heed your buddies grumbling. Give snowpits the short time they deserve.

To conduct a quick pit you need some information on the weak layer. The best way to know the weak layer is by following the snowpack history in your local backcountry, then you know the weak layer type (surface hoar for example) and location (50-cm deep on north-facing slopes from 2,000- to 4,000-feet for example). Another way to know the weak layer type and location is by reading the avalanche advisory. If you’re venturing into an area with no snowpack information, then dig your pits at least four feet deep. Humans generally don’t trigger avalanches from weak layers deeper than four feet because the slab bridges our weight over deeper week layers.

With the target weak layer in mind, find a low-consequence slope that represents the slope you want to ski or ride. Dig a smooth-walled pit five feet deep and five feet across. The flat blade on the BCA Companion Shovel is ideal for pits and stability tests. Expose the weak layer by sweeping the side wall with your gloved hand and view the pit wall from a distance.

Currently, the preferred stability test for quick pits is the compression test. Isolate a perfect column of snow 30-cm by 30-cm with a G3 Bone Saw. Run through the compression taps and remember the stability score and shear quality (for example CT20 Q1). Also, remember the snowpack structure of the weak layer and the location (depth, aspect, elevation and slope angle). By condensing your pits to 10-minutes you can sample several locations during the day giving you a better overall understanding of the weak layer.

To interpret the results from quick pits you’ll need every bit of your avalanche education, even if you have a PhD in snow-nerdology. The key point to remember from snowpits is they are a single point in vast terrain and add one small bit of information to your overall stability evaluation for the day. Move 15-feet across the slope and the snowpack will be similar, but different.

Give quick pits the time they deserve – 10-minutes and nothing more. Set your stopwatch, dig like mad, feel the snow, look at the snow, bang on the snow, get the necessary data and get back to skiing.

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