Soldier & Wood River Valley Mtns

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

  Layers of weak snow can be found throughout the snowpack:

  • Periods of sun, warm temperatures, and rain created a variable mix of crusts and facets near the snow surface. These crust + facet layers may produce smaller but touchy slab avalanches as snow accumulates.
  • In the middle of the snowpack, several interfaces have produced both avalanches and unstable test results in recent days. These layers appear to be problematic where accompanied by a crust.
  • Depth hoar exists near the ground on all aspects that hold snow. This is the weak snow that we've been talking about all season long and seem destined to talk about for the remainder of the season.

  Ben found ugly snowpack structure and poor snowpack test scores near Dollarhide Summit (observation, photos) and in Adams Gulch (observation) in recent days.  He also found a large, natural avalanche that appeared to have failed on a crust before stepping down to weak snow near the ground.

  You can greatly reduce your risk of triggering a large persistent slab avalanche by playing on slopes less than 35 degrees that are sheltered from the wind.

  

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

  Wahrscheinlichkeit

  Likely

  Größe

  1–2

  The Soldiers and mountains near Dollarhide Summit should pick up 8-10" of new snow by 5 PM, adding to last night's 2-6". This storm is producing low-density snowfall of about 4-5%.  Wind will blow strong to extreme from the W and NW, and it won't take much wind to get this snow moving. Expect whiteout conditions at upper elevations and any middle elevation terrain exposed to the wind. 

  Expect to find a variety of stiff and hard wind slabs in exposed terrain. Yesterday I found thin wind slabs sitting atop a temperature crust that formed Monday; these may be particularly touchy today. While hard slabs support your and your sled's weight, they fail unpredictably when stressed to the breaking point. Hard slabs can break well above you, pulling into flatter terrain near the ridgetops. 

  Be on the lookout for stiff snow that feels "punchy" or hollow underneath. You could find the recently formed wind slabs near ridges, on the sides of cross-loaded gullies, and lower on slopes near prominent terrain features. Recognize that wind-loading also adds stress to the weak layers buried deeper in the snowpack (described in Problem 1 above). Any wind slab you trigger could step down to these deeper layers, producing a much larger, more dangerous avalanche.