Wind Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1–2
Tuesday was quite blustery, with winds in the 20-30mph range at many weather stations. Not much snow made it very far east of the crest during this storm, but any soft dry snow easily drifted into wind slabs. We expect most wind slabs will be small, but the western edge of the zone had higher snow totals, and avalanches could be larger in these areas. On Saturday, there were reports from Mission Ridge of wind slabs running on an old layer of buried surface hoar. While unlikely, older wind slabs formed above 6000ft may still run on this weak snow layer. The surface hoar layer is likely isolated in distribution, but there is potential for a large surprising avalanche on northerly aspects. The most likely locations to trigger a wind slab will be in alpine terrain near steep, rocky ridgelines and confined gullies. If you see large pillow-like drifts, shooting cracks, or the snow feels hollow beneath you, simply travel on lower-angle slopes or steer around these wind-loaded features.
(4/8/2023)
Slab triggered by a cornice fall that ran on a surface hoar layer from the end of March.
Photo: Mission Ridge Ski Patrol