Persistent Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Unlikely
- Größe
- 1.5–2.5
During yesterday's tour in St. Regis Basin we found a layer of surface hoar buried in sheltered terrain at the upper edge of treeline. We found this layer on a north-westerly aspect and east facing terrain. This layer is not showing a likelihood to propagate and is bridged by our 2" thick "Lucky Friday Crust". Observations from the past week have not been finding buried surface hoar, which leads me to believe it is unlikely to be widely distributed across the area. The challenge with surface hoar is mapping where it grew and stayed intact prior to being buried. Buried surface hoar is often highly variable in reactivity once buried. The take home message here is that despite a generally stable snowpack and a low likelihood of triggering avalanches today, it is always wise to take the time to dig into the snow and see what is under your feet before committing to steep and consequential terrain.