Snow sintering

From HydroWiki

Crystals lose their points due to molecular motion, wind, and direct pressure. Physically breaking the snow crystals, for instance stomping on them or disturbing them with a shovel, will produce the same effect. The crystal arms are broken and then rounded grains fuse by freezing into larger crystals in a process called sintering.

Reference:

Ice crystal discovery is good news for avalanche prediction. January 2002. [1]

External Link:

A Review of Sintering in Seasonal Snow. December 1997 [2]