Wind Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Possible
- Size
- 2
Snowpro and avy educator extraordinaire, Dave Kikkert was in upper Weber Canyon yesterday and triggered this piece of snow from a distance. Dave was a bit surprised by the connectivity and commented... "I went out for a quick tour yesterday and learned a lot in a short period of time." Sage insight from a guy who's been in the biz for a few decades.
This weeks uber-fluff storm snow contains very little water, it's superlow density, and that means it's easily drifted by winds. And while recent winds have blown from nearly every quadrant of the compass, consistent westerly winds the past 24 hours have added just enough body and cohesion to the light fluffy snow, transforming it into a stiff wind drift with slab-like characteristics.
Found mostly in upper elevation, leeward terrain, today's fresh wind drifts are gonna continue to be touchy, breaking 2' deep and may start to expand their boundaries and break wider than you might expect. In any case, avoiding avalanches today means just searching for soft snow untouched by the wind. Areas with wind drifted snow will look rounded, pillowy, and smooth and may sound hollow like a drum.
Many wind slabs rest on a wide variety of old snow surfaces and present varying degrees of stability, so you'll need to evaluate each slope on an individual basis. You don't have to roll the dice and take your chances so the best strategy is to simply avoid wind drifted slopes and ride terrain sheltered by recent winds.
A sidebar HEADS UP - It's easy to be complacent because conditions aren't too dangerous, and avalanches may not be too big. HOWEVER, an avalanche fatality earlier this month in Montana near West Yellowstone is an example of how a relatively small avalanche can be deadly. That avalanche was 4-11 inches deep and 75 feet wide. Read more HERE.