Persistent Slabs
- Alpin
- Limite forestière
- Sous la limite forestière
- Probabilité
- Likely
- Taille
- 1–2
Though snowfall has slowed, continued wind-loading and increasing temperatures will keep this snowpack on edge. The recent storm snow is settling and has created a cohesive slab in many locations, including some rare low-elevation terrain that happened to harbor older snow. You’re most likely to trigger a persistent slab where a stiff wind-loaded slab sits over recently buried snow left high and dry from November. Taking a peek at recent avalanche activity denotes a widespread, persistent problem on the old/new snow interface, now buried around 2 feet deep on December 1. Every slope harboring older snow should be presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Given the potential for human-triggering, it remains best to stick to lower-angled terrain. Conditions will be most dangerous on upper elevation slopes with evidence of wind drifting. Be alert to signs of unstable snow, such as cracking or collapsing—these are obvious indicators you've found dangerous conditions.
(12/3/2023)
Cave Bowl avalanche crown highlighted in red. The avalanche propagated several hundred feet across the slope.
Photo: Noah McCorkel