Glide Cracks
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 2
Another round of rain could tip slopes over the edge. Shed-style avalanches are erratic and impossible to predict. Although the snowpack has already been through a lot, not every slope has shed, and not every cornice has fallen. Liquid water can linger in the snowpack long after the surface starts to freeze, which may not happen until the rain stops. Whether glides, cornice collapses, or blocks of snow shedding from rocks, these large and unpredictable slides could occur at any point. This isn't the type of avalanche you trigger; it's the kind you avoid. Pay close attention to the terrain above you. Choose routes that help limit time traveling below crevasse-like cracks, looming cornices, or snow-covered faces.
(3/21/2024)
A glide avalanche that released this past week. There is still plenty of snow on this slope that could fall with a push from additional rain or warming.
Photo: Andy Harrington