Wind Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Possible
- Dimensione
- 2
Four to six inches of new snow can easily be blown into wind drifts eight to twelve inches thick. These drifts are being blown onto a variety of slick or weak snow surfaces (note Chris Brown observation and photo below of fairly widespread surface hoar) and may be surprisingly sensitive to the weight of a skier or rider. They may also be triggered from a distance. Given the highly variable pre-existing snow surfaces, it'll be wise to anticipate sensitive conditions and foolish to extrapolate conditions from slope to slope, even slopes on similar aspects. Collapsing and shooting cracks are common signs of instability.
Note that the drifts will be primarily limited to the higher elevations but any terrain with fresh drifts of wind blown snow should be treated with caution and/or avoided.