Persistent Slabs
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 1–2
4 Human-triggered avalanches (skiers and snow bikers) have been reported within the last 24 hours in our Advisory area which has been surprising people. A layer of surface hoar was buried around January 6th and now has around a foot of snow on top of it. Wednesday, near Tamarack we did not see propagation on this fairly well-preserved layer as we believe it was just too soft or unconsolidated in the 2 locations that we sampled on West Mountain. As the upper snowpack gains density over the next few days, we may see the sensitivity increase.
This type of weak layer has the potential to send failures over a large distance and remain a problem for weeks.
***Have fun on low-angle terrain...with this current snowpack structure, Slopes steeper than 30 degrees are going to be somewhat like loaded guns, so use extra care in your travel protocols and make sure you are set up to provide your own rescue with a transceiver, shovel and probes on your person. These weak layers tend to persist for an undetermined timeframe and the exact location can be hard to pin down.
(1/10/2023)
Skier triggered avalanche, North aspect near Big Cr Summit was very sensitive. No one was hurt.
Photo: Brian Peters