Wind Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Likely
- Größe
- 2
Drifting by winds from the west in the last couple of days created stiff wind slabs in exposed upper-elevation terrain. In some areas, people are likely to trigger avalanches of wind-drifted snow up to 2 feet deep on drifted slopes steeper than 30°. Avalanches may fail on a thin layer of small-grained, sugary, or faceted snow that was on the snow surface on Wednesday. This is a persistent weak layer, but it appears to be gaining strength pretty quickly.
- Watch for and avoid fresh wind slabs on the lee side of major ridges, on corniced slopes, and in and around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, gully walls, and mid-slope rollovers.
- Stay well away from and out from under overhanging cornices, which may break further back than expected.
- Obvious signs of instability include cracking and collapsing, but these red flags may not be present when avalanches occur.