Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Unlikely
- Größe
- 1
A small wind-drifted pocket that I observed release naturally during a spike in winds on Monday near Bald Mountain on a north facing slope around 10,700'.
Stiff and stubborn wind-drifts are breaking 4-12" deep at and above treeline on the north half of the compass. Although the snowpack is thin, where there is enough snow to ride look for fat and rounded pillows on specific terrain features like ridges, or convex rolls that formed earlier this week and could be reactive to our additional weight as a rider.
Check out the structure below, showcasing the wind slab hazard. Pull out the shovel, or even throw in a quick handpit as it's easy digging to see the strong, dense snow formed by wind sitting atop the weak, early-season sugary snow -- This is the set-up we want to avoid right now.