The best stability tests for depth hoar, listed roughly in the order of reliability, are recent avalanche activity, explosives tests, cornice drops, extended column tests or propagation saw tests, rutschblock tests, compression tests (do lots of them in representative places), and jumping on test slopes. Weather isn’t quite as reliable unless it’s really obvious weather like a heavy loading or rapid warming of the overlying slab. (See Chapter 6, Stability, for more information on tests.)
