Summit Lake

Lawinenprobleme

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  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

  Wahrscheinlichkeit

  Likely

  Größe

  2–3

  The Summit Lake snowpack has received a massive load of new snow this week relative to the thin existing snowpack. Today is expected to be a lull between storms, but due to the persistent weak layers buried in the snowpack very large human triggered avalanches remain likely. These problematic weak layers are most likely to be found above 2500' where the snowpack has remained dry for most of the season. We recommend sticking to low angle terrain and managing your exposure to overhead avalanche terrain to avoid this problem. 

  Persistent weak layers are difficult to assess in the field and require more time to adjust to the added weight of new snow. We have limited information from the Summit Lake area outside of observations of many large natural avalanches. Since we are expecting another huge storm over the weekend we will need to wait until the dust settles next week to get a better sense of how the weak layers are adapting to the new snow load. 

  

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

  Wahrscheinlichkeit

  Likely

  Größe

  1–2

  Lingering wind slabs about 1' deep from the 20 to 30 mph winds yesterday morning could still be reactive to human triggering. These tend to exist along ridgelines and convex features at higher elevations. Keep an eye out for shooting cracks, hollow feeling snow, and recent avalanches to assess how reactive wind slabs are.  

  The combination of winds and wet snow built fresh cornices this week which could be a hazard if you are traveling along ridgelines. We recommend giving cornices a wide berth because they can fail further back than expected and have the potential to trigger larger avalanches on the slopes below.