Persistent Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 4
It's increasingly clear... there's a light at the end of the Persistent Weak Layer tunnel-
Let's face it, our November problem child (the weak, sugary, PWL) is now buried deeply in the snowpack. In fact, with total snow depths measuring a colossal 200 cm, just locating the grainy layer in our snowpits requires a mini excavator... and we know how hard those are to find at the nearby rental yard.
So... is it open season? Man, I think we are getting so close and the recent series of storms is a huge test. We've stacked up a tremendous amount of additional weight, the snowpack appears Herculean and unreactive, and we're not seeing avalanches failing on the midpack weak layer. Yep, all this suggests the chances of triggering deep dangerous avalanches is becoming less likely over time. But here's where the rubber hits the road... as I begin stepping into big terrain I know it's not entirely impossible the trigger a deep slide... all I need to do is find one weakness in the pack, pull the rug out from underneath, and the entire roof crashes down on me. In a low probability/high consequence scenario, now is the time to start stepping out cautiously, gathering as much snowpack intel as we can along the way. I'm gonna stomp on small steep test slopes and road cuts and see how they're reacting before setting my sights on a big, committing line. And if it isn't feeling right, I'll pump the brakes and recalibrate, because with all the great mid and lower angle riding available, there's no reason to pull on the avalanche dragons tail.