Wind Slabs
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Likely
- Size
- 1–2
Winds are redistributing the low-density surface snow into shallow, reactive slabs. Several backcountry users discovered this on Friday. According to one backcountry user, the Baker backcountry “was a ‘war zone’ with human triggers”. Due to the shallow or more predictable nature of many of these avalanches, backcountry users were able to avoid getting hurt or killed. We may have just been lucky.
It’s important to consider the consequences if the avalanche becomes larger, takes you through trees, off a cliff, or deposits you in a gully. More snow overnight and through the day Saturday could change the problem and make avalanches larger, more stubborn, or less predictable. Additionally, the possibility of wind slabs failing as deep as the Solstice Crust buried more than 2 feet below the surface is not out of the question.
Cooler temperatures and light winds could mean that this low-density snow will pose more of a challenge for identifying wind slabs. Your usual clues such as textured snow or pillows, or seeing shooting cracks may not be as obvious. Checking the snow surface layers with hand pits and digging down to the solstice crust and completing stability tests are your best way to identify the problem. Use small test slopes to see how reactive the snow is. We’ve received over two feet of snow in the last 4 days and we saw recent avalanches (bulls-eye clues). Unless you’re well trained and absolutely certain about a steep slope you’re heading out on, stick to terrain less than 35 degrees.
(12/24/2021)
A small natural wind slab avalanche which occurred in this gully feature of the Baker backcountry near the bottom of Mt Herman. See how the slab breaks as it rolls over into the gully.
Photo: Jason Speer - Baker Mtn Guides
