Persistent Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Possible
- Dimensione
- 1.5–2.5
A loading event has brought improved skiing and riding conditions to our area, but our focus is still on how persistent weak layers will react to additional snowfall. Good things to keep in mind continually at Togwotee Pass are:
- Weak layers are buried ~2+' deep. These layers have produced large avalanches, sometimes triggered from large distances away, in this area. The pattern of activity outlined by these avalanches points to these layers being most unstable on slopes that face the sun, where they are accompanied by crusts, but they have also produced slides on shaded aspects.
- A pile of large-grained, weak snow also exists near the ground across the middle elevations here. You are more likely to trigger slides on the weak layers higher up in the snowpack, but any slide triggered on this deeply buried weak snow is likely to be unsurvivable.
The possibility of triggering a slide here will be on the table for some time to come. If you choose to enter avalanche terrain, be alert that at least one of these weak layers almost certainly exists in the snowpack underneath you. Even as the danger decreases we continue to advise cautious and conservative terrain selection. Be alert to the consequence of being caught in a large avalanche in the terrain you are recreating in.
Mocassin Basin 9500' E aspect
Photo: Cory Beattie