Wind Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1–2
On Saturday, I found wind slabs present in isolated wind loaded terrain, in some places over a foot thick. While I found these wind slabs unreactive to triggering, the additional (and warmer) snow coming down through Saturday night could make these more touchy and possible to trigger. Use small, steep, and convex test slopes on leeward aspects to assess potential for reactivity, and back off terrain where you see that red flags are present. The rain crust underneath recent storm snow/wind loaded snow is a great bench mark to reference how deep wind drifts have become. Monitor these depths with your ski pole, and bear in mind that deeper drifts can result in larger avalanches.
(12/25/2024)
Archived photo showing shooting cracks in a wind slab
Photo: Aaron Hartz