Wind Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Likely
- Size
- 2
Ted was in the Moffit Drainage yesterday and noted a deep, solid, stable snowpack with mostly "green light" avy danger. And on a go anywhere base, it's easy to tag big terrain around the range like in the image above. However, that was so yesterday and now it's time to recalibrate because last nights storm delivered a one-two punch of strong winds and a solid shot of snow. This not only changes the landscape, it also means avalanche danger has risen accordingly. Yup, the days of just pull the trigger, ride it if it's white are rapidly coming to an end. Today, expect evolving avalanche conditions as strong winds whip up a fresh round of drifts. And while we're not measuring snow in feet, remember, it's the wind that makes the western Uinta's a particularly tricky range for avalanches.
And here's the deal.... as the storm materializes, snow stacks up and winds continue blowing, and that creates stiff pieces of snow, which by days end, become more reactive to our additional weight and begin breaking deeper and wider than we might expect. So, the key to riding safely today is... be flexible with your travels plans and adjust objectives if you're starting to see or feel obvious clues to unstable snow like shooting cracks, sudden collapses, or the biggest clue to avalanches and of course, that's avalanches!