Persistent Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 3
Some most excellent beta from local cat operator extraordinaire cutting a road near Double Hill on the North Slope and seeing the reactive and slabby characteristics of our recent storm snow.
Last weeks big dose of snow and water weight (40" snow with nearly 4" of SWE... colossal numbers for the western Uinta's) help aid in strengthening our snowpack and I suspect we're headed in the right direction. But here's where it gets tricky... while many slopes avalanched this past week, there's still plenty more waiting for us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath. There is no threading the needle. Persistent slab avalanches are unmanageable and the strategy is avoidance.
I refuse to be the guy in the wetsuit that looks like a seal. Eventually the apex predators move on and we'll be good to go... but now is not the time to roll the dice, 'cause a miscalculation produces a day ruining result. I'm simply avoiding the school of migrating white sharks that are feeding on steep, mid and upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass.