Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 2
The Uinta's are amazing right now... fat, white and filled in. As a matter of fact, we've got a solid snowpack with a go anywhere base, which enables us to get onto big slopes and tag complex terrain. But, as you know, the Uinta's are a big range. And... I bet if you were looking to trigger an avalanche today you could find one. Yesterday's slide near Notch Mountain not only illustrates the type of terrain we love to ride in the spring, it's also the type of terrain where we could trigger a slide today.
Big picture- the most likely suspect terrain we need to carefully evaluate are steep, leeward slopes in the wind zone at and above treeline. Generally easy to detect by their fat, rounded appearance, recent wind drifts might be slightly more disguised by the midweek storm snow, and therefore a bit more elusive to identify today. So, the key to riding safely today is... be flexible with your travels plans and adjust objectives if you're starting to see or feel obvious clues to unstable snow like shooting cracks, sudden collapses, or avalanches with the same terrain characteristics like the slopes you wanna ride. In addition, think about the consequences of triggering a slide, especially if you're getting into steep, technical terrain.
Snow has an amazing memory... people, not so much.
Above a 48 hour data dump for Windy Peak (10,662') illustrating midweek winds along the high peaks, helping to explain how, where, and why drifting occurred.