Persistent Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Unlikely
- Tamaño
- 2
It has been four weeks since our last storm and natural avalanche cycle. The persistent weak layer problem has gone largely dormant during the prolonged period of mild weather. However, poor snowpack structure still exists and is fairly widespread. The PWL problem will undoubtedly come back to life with the next loading event. Backcountry travelers need to be aware of changing conditions this week.
For today, you should continue to be suspicious of steep, rocky, radical terrain above the treeline. On these slopes, you may find isolated hard slabs of wind-drifted snow overlying weak, sugary faceted snow.
In our travels at the mid and lower elevation bands, we have found very weak, cohesionless snow and it is easy to trigger sluffs in steep terrain. Looking ahead, this loose, unconsolidated snow will almost certainly become our next persistent weak layer once more snow arrives.