Persistent Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Unlikely
- Size
- 4
Here's the setup-
We're moving in the right direction and trending towards a snowpack becoming happy in its own skin as the persistent weak layer (PWL) of faceted, old, sugary snow near the ground slowly adjusts to the big December storms. However, let's not forget... a tremendous amount of dense, heavy, water laden snow piled up on a pre-existing fragile, shaky base and we can't take our eyes off the prize. Sure, all of the snow since Christmas is a good thing that eventually heals this weak layer, but it doesn't happen overnight. Indeed, things are calming down, avalanche activity isn't off the charts, and it's been nearly a week since any significant slides have been reported. But the big red flag is that last weeks avalanches continue breaking on our early season problem child or, in snow-geek-speak... persistent weak layer (PWL). So, while conditions are slowly improving, I'd continue steering clear of any steep, rocky, wind drifted slope, especially those facing the north half of the compass, that harbor old October snow.
Insider trading tip... this layer doesn't exist on south facing slopes and lower elevation shady terrain which had no snow prior to the big Christmas storms. In either case, both have excellent coverage, and soft creamy powder.