Persistent Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Unlikely
- Dimensione
- 2
Above, a large avalanche on Ramona Peak was observed and most likely occured a few weeks ago after our most recent round of storms. The red arrows indicate crow lines in steep, rocky, and shallow terrain.
We have not seen avalanches on persistent weak layers in almost two weeks and aren't showing signs of reactivity. Even though the snowpack is beginning to relax and the likelihood of triggering a deep, dangerous avalanche is decreasing, I am still avoiding slopes like the one in the image above. As always, large cornices are concern me and always have the potential to trigger larger avalanches than expected.
As riders, all we need to do is find a thin portion of the snowpack like around a rock or bush. Here the snowpack is susceptible to our own weight, we can collapse the slope (whumpf), and now we're staring down the barrel of a larger piece of snow than we expected. Although the chance of triggering a big slide are unlikely, I am still avoiding steep, rocky slopes, with a shallow and weak snowpack, as seen in the images above and below.
The scene of a snowmobile triggered avalanche from last week near The Cone at 11,000'. Details, along with a few snowmobile sized holes from the debris pile show that it could have been a close call, but first-hand information is sparse.