The hiker later told rangers that during the brief discussion, they compared birds they had seen, and he warned Wood of a snow bridge a short way ahead.
32.
In complete darkness and weightlessness, a torrent of warmth surged through his body until a thin, transparent snow bridge the size of a man-hole cover stopped his fall.
33.
Since a snow bridge is thicker and stronger at the edge of a crevasse, a fall through a bridge usually happens at some distance from the crevasse edge.
34.
He then attempts to make his way down the mountain, but the storm is too severe, and the snow bridges over the deep gorges have collapsed, cutting off the path.
35.
Naofumi was hiking with his father on the toe of the Columbia Glacier on Wednesday afternoon when he stepped on a snow bridge concealing the crevasse and fell through, Blake said.
36.
"They go across the bridges one at a time usually _ a snow bridge can be between 2 feet ( 0.5 meter ) or 15 feet ( 5 meters ) wide, " he said.
37.
One hazard is that snow at this time of year creates deceptive snow bridges over crevasses, cracks that on Rainier can be as deep as 100 feet and wider than 20 feet, Gunlogson said.
38.
At this time of year, Mischke said, climbers often try to cross the crevasse on a naturally occurring " snow bridge, " crossing early in the morning before the sun starts to melt the snow.
39.
"They go across the bridges one at a time usually _ a snow bridge can be between 2 feet ( 0 . 5 meter ) or 15 feet ( 5 meters ) wide, " he said.
40.
A snow bridge may completely cover the opening and thus presents danger : it creates an illusion of unbroken surface while hiding the opening under a layer of snow of unknown thickness, possibly only several centimetres thick.
