Persistent Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 2
Here's the setup-
During the late autumn dry spell, old snow from November grew weak and faceted (sugary) on shady slopesnear and above treeline. And while not nearly as widespread or uniform, it may also exist below treeline, but it's definitely more pockety. Bust your shovel out and dig down... it's easy to see in any snowpit, just like in the image below. And while the big weekend storm delivered a much needed dose of dense heavy, base building snow, it also created a layer of cohesive snow (slab) on top of this PWL (persistent weak layer).
While not nearly as reactive as earlier in the week, I think the jury is still out and we need to visit more terrain, gather more intel, and tread lightly until we can see a more clear pattern in our collective snow scope.
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the snowpack was generally well-behaved and I didn't experience any cracking, collapsing, or whumphing. However on Monday, Trevor and Andy found very reactive weak snow under the dense storm. In fact, this extended column test came to life after only three light taps from the wrist in Mill Hollow. (Photo - Katz/Nassetta)