One of the first avalanche buzz words I heard as a younger avalanche student was the term Alpha Angle. It sounded important and fancy, so I latched on to it and tried to incorporate it into any avalanche path discussion I could to sound smart. Little did I know that at the time, I had a relatively poor understanding of the term, and thus would have sounded ridiculous to my current self. Not only did I have a poor understanding of the term, but I also had little understanding of where the concept of Alpha Angle fit into a bigger picture of understanding avalanche terrain.
Below, I will try to break down, in simple terms, what an Alpha Angle is, how it differs from a Runout Angle, and how recreationalists can use both measurements to better understand and analyze avalanche terrain.
I want to preface this by noting that the measurements taken in the manner I describe should be treated more as rough estimates, and that avalanche mapping is highly complex and challenging. If you want, you can go to school for many years to study this topic. But what I am about to go over is really a 10-minute crash course on the topic.
