New snowfall and wind have combined to build drifts in the upper elevations. Today, it is possible to trigger a wind slab that is 1-2 feet thick. These areas are isolated, and cracking is an indicator of this problem. Seek out wind-protected snow for the safest and highest-quality riding conditions.
Soft wind slabs exist in isolated terrain features and upper-elevation pockets. Some of these may remain touchy today with sunny, breezy conditions. Though this is the primary problem of concern, loose snowfall will also move easily in steep, upper-elevation terrain, particularly sunny slopes.
(11/23/2022) Photo: Antonioli
Some nice turkey turns are in store for us today as yesterday's storm produced more snowfall than expected. In most areas, it has bonded well. I expect wind slabs to be most sensitive where they have accumulated on crusted older snow. New snowfall has the potential to sluff easily, particularly as sunshine peeks into the upper elevations. Though the primary problem is new snowfall, it has also fallen on persistent weak layers in the middle and upper elevations. This amount of new snow is likely not enough to tip the scale toward deeper instability in the middle elevations. However, due to the variability in snow depth and cover above 10,000, some deeper instabilities could be problematic where the wind has drifted larger amounts of new snow onto faceted and shallow areas.
