Theory 63/Mountain & Alpine/Avalanche regime
Avalanche Return Is a Load Ratio
The claim
Avalanche return interval is set by the ratio of snowpack accumulation rate to slope stability, not by snowfall alone.
01Mechanism
Slabs fail when load exceeds strength; the ratio determines how often that is reached on a given slope.
02Prediction
Interval should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Interval tracking snowfall would remove stability.