Persistent Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Unlikely
- Size
- 3
Overall, that snowpack was generally stable on Wednesday. Old faceted snow from the January dry spell, now buried within the snowpack, remains a concern. The crux of this problem is how the old dry facets will react as they become damp. Above 9500' on northerly facing terrain, the facets were still cold and dry on Wednesday. They will probably remain dry today but it is possible that they will become damp over the next few days. Once they become damp, we may see some natural avalanches breaking to the ground. However, this could totally be a non-event and we may not see avalanches at all. This is a tricky situation to predict.
All that said, it is unlikely that this problem will affect anyone because access to the terrain where these avalanches may occur is so difficult. Shallow snow or no snow at all very much limits where we can travel. Places where there is snow, the snowpack is falling apart, and you are sinking deep into it, at least on machines. It is very difficult to control a machine in these types of conditions so it is unlikely that anyone will actually get into much serious avalanche terrain.