Glide Cracks
- Alpin
- Limite forestière
- Sous la limite forestière
- Probabilité
- Possible
- Taille
- 2–3
As the spring meltdown continues, our main concern is large glide avalanches releasing in popular areas and potentially running down to valley bottoms. These avalanches are very difficult to predict, but seem more likely to release in the afternoon as the snow surface melts and the snowpack becomes weaker. The best way to manage this problem is to avoid slopes with existing glide cracks and be vigilant for new glide cracks opening up on slopes above you.
In addition, wet snow avalanches will become likely in the afternoon as the snow surface melts. Wet loose avalanches are easy for a person to trigger on steep terrain and can build up a lot of debris if they run down steep slopes. Wet slab avalanches are also a concern as the snowpack continues to melt. These tend to be much larger and release naturally as meltwater pools in the snowpack, reducing the strength of existing weak layers.
The best way to monitor wet avalanche conditions is to pay attention to how deeply your skis or boots are sinking into the wet surface snow. If your boot sinks in more than ankle deep, we recommend moving to a shadier aspect to avoid the potential for wet avalanches.
Cornice fall is also a normal part of the spring shed cycle and has the potential to trigger larger avalanches on the slope below. Cornices that are receiving direct sunlight are more likely to fail. Try to avoid travelling underneath large cornices and give them plenty of space if you are travelling along ridgelines.
Glide avalanche activity on Petes North that likely released on 4/18.
Photo: CNFAC Staff
