Wind Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1–2
Temperatures combined with wind chill will be frigid today, so here is a friendly reminder to bring warm gloves, extra layers, and something to cover your face. The main avalanche problem will be wind slabs around 1' deep forming at upper elevations. During these arctic outflow events, the Seattle Ridge area tends to get stronger winds compared to the skier side but high elevation peaks across the region could see fresh wind slabs forming today.
Keep an eye out for active wind transport, hollow feeling snow along ridgelines or convex features, and shooting cracks to identify areas harboring wind slabs. Jumping on or riding across small test slopes can be a great way to check how sensitive fresh wind deposits are to the weight of a skier or rider.
In areas with a thinner snowpack, such as near Crow Creek in Girdwood or on the southern end of Turnagain Pass near Johnson Pass Trailhead buried weak layers may exist in the snowpack. So we recommend taking some time to evaluate the snowpack before committing to steep terrain.
Cornices along ridgelines and dry loose avalanches on steep slopes are additional hazards to look out for. As the surface snow turns to facets in the cold temperatures dry loose avalanches can start to gain more volume and run faster.
Glide avalanches also continue to be a concern. We have observed several glide cracks continuing to open up since the last major storm over the weekend and recommend trying to avoid traveling underneath glide cracks whenever possible.