The layers (starting from the bottom):
Light blue
A stick of floating snow (deep frost) is located near the bottom. Here, the build-up transformation was in full swing, allowing small and larger cup crystals to form. With a size of 1 - 2 millimeters, the crystals have already grown into cups. With a hardness of 1-2 (between a fist and four fingers), the lower layer at the bottom is somewhat harder than the thin layer above it with a hardness of 1 (fist).
The appearance: When digging or cutting out, you can already see that this layer consists of different crystals than the layer above. It is glassy and not white like fresh snow, for example. The crystals look larger and looser and you can see the transition to the layers above very well in terms of color. The cup-shaped form and the individual, clearly visible facets are typical of floating snow crystals. Facets are individual thin lines that are frozen onto the crystal layer by layer. This gradually creates the cup shape.
Feeling and hearing: If you take a handful of crystals out of the layer of snow and push them around loosely in the palm of your hand, you will hear a trickling sound like sugar. If you touch them or poke around in the crystals with a pencil (as I prefer to do), you notice how hard they are. If you press on them, they break.
The layers close to the ground are from the snowfall at the beginning of December. This was followed by a period of fine weather with clear nights and cold temperatures, during which the snow cover was transformed and built up.
Violet
A melting crust, some of whose crystals are still recognizably transformed and built up. However, these crystals are not loose but have a hardness of 3 (can be penetrated with a finger) due to the crust.
The appearance: Glassy, solid. If you wipe away the loose layers below and above, the crust remains and looks like a wooden board in the snow.
Feeling and hearing: Trickling and crunching when broken or crumbled. The crust is hard and you can feel it immediately when you run your fingers through the profile.
This crust was created by the rain on 21/22/12/20. During the snowfall, the temperature rose sharply and the snow turned into rain, with the rain line settling at around 2400m at the time. The resulting temperature difference and the moistening of the snow surface caused the crust to form. As a result, the build-up transformation did a good job, forming the weak layers below and above. Classic Gm4 problem (cold to warm, warm to cold).
