Persistent Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Possible
- Dimensione
- 2–3
The information we are getting from Summit is telling us there's still a chance a human could trigger an avalanche on a layer of buried weak snow up to 3' deep. The chances seem to be decreasing, but a surprise avalanche on one of these layers could be large enough to bury a human. You can completely avoid this by sticking to lower angle slopes.
If you are looking to get into steep terrain, we recommend evaluating snowpack stability, which includes watching and listening for red flags - the sound of a whumpf is the most likely with buried surface hoar. Digging a hand pit or snowpit on a safe slope (less than 30 degrees), in a place where the snowpack is relatively thin, is the best way to get information on these weak layers. An easy break is a sign there's a higher chance a human could trigger an avalanche.
Dry Loose: We may be able to trigger some dry loose avalanches today especially in the mid elevations where there is a slick crust from the holiday storms this last week. If enough snow becomes entrained it could knock us off our feet and carry us somewhere we don't want to go, like over a cliff or into some rocks.
Cornice Fall: The wind and new snow from the holiday storms built some large cornices throughout our forecast areas. Many of these were triggered naturally during the storms, but there are plenty left up there. They could be easy for a human to trigger today and we recommend giving them extra space while traveling the ridgelines. They have a tendency to break back further than expected.
(12/26/2024)
Upper elevation snowpit. Adjacent snowpit ~50' closer to the subridge was only 75 cm (2.5') deep.
Photo: Andrew Schauer