Persistent Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible
- Size
- 2
On Saturday, Andy and Joey stomped around the south half of the range and have an excellent observation from their travels found HERE. Above, Andy pretty much sums up what's going on with our dangerous, strong snow over weak snow setup.
With a little new snow on top of our structurally challenged snowpack it's gonna be easy to get lured into a false sense of security. However, we need to think not about the snow we're riding in, but also the snow we're riding on. And it's so deceptively tricky because a strong, cohesive slab rests on fragile, old October snow... or what we call a persistent weak layer (PWL). This is always a dangerous combination in our mountains because the stronger snow feels bomber under our skis, board, or sled. It often allows us to get well out onto the slope before the weak layer fails (usually around a bush or rock we can't see under the snow), the avalanche breaks above us, and now the entire seasons snowpack crashes down on top of us. The most likely place to encounter this avalanche dragon is on steep, mid and upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass, especially terrain that harbors old, October snow.
But here's the good news... it doesn't mean we can't ride. It does mean we need to avoid terrain with these characteristics. You can have a blast in a big open meadow or on low angle terrain with no steep slopes above or adjacent to you... done and done :)
