Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Likely
- Größe
- 1–2
Earlier in the week the mountains of the Kootenai picked up over a foot of snow that fell from Sunday through Tuesday morning. As the cold front moved in Wednesday the winds switched to a north and easterly direction and blew hard through Thursday. These winds will decrease on Friday, but the effects will be widespread on our snowpack in open terrain. The formation of wind slabs will be found on most any aspect where the loose snow collected and packed into cohesive slabs. Locations to be wary of include south and west aspects directly below ridgelines and any steep chute where the snow deposited as winds blew across the slope. It is likely you will trigger one of these slabs if you choose to ride in steep terrain Friday. As time goes on these slabs will become more difficult to trigger, but avoiding steep and open terrain this weekend will be the safest bet for reducing your avalanche risk.