Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Likely
- Größe
- 1–2
Strong southeast winds kicked up yesterday and will continue through today. These will keep fresh wind slabs as our main concern. These could be 1 to 2 feet deep and forming on top of a weak layer that is buried just below the surface. This setup increases the chances of natural and human-triggered avalanches. The most dangerous terrain will be at higher elevations below ridgelines, in steep gullies, and below convex rollovers. Cracking in the snow around you and watching for active loading will be your biggest clues (check out this great pic of a shooting crack that slid a couple feet downslope yesterday). Look for better surface conditions and a more stable snowpack in terrain that has remained sheltered from the wind.
Glide avalanches: Glide cracks are still on the move, and we still don't know when they will release. These avalanches are very large and very unpredictable. The only way to manage them is to avoid spending time under open glide cracks.
(3/2/2025) 10' shooting cracks were easy to initiate in a small fresh wind slab along the Manitoba ridgeline. The slab was up to 8" thick at this location. Photo: Andy Moderow