Bollettino valanghe

Elkhorns

Wallowa Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Sun
Alta quota
2 · Moderato
Limite del bosco
2 · Moderato
Sotto il limite
1 · Debole
Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 6 years ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

Lingering windslabs along ridgelines will continue to be possible to trigger, although likely becoming increasingly stubborn.  In steep, rocky areas that host a shallower snowpack, it remains possible for a person, machine, or triggered windslab to punch out a deeper and more destructive avalanche. 

Problemi valanghivi

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2

    You don't need much snow to form fresh windslabs.  2" of new snow yesterday and throughout the night is likely enough.  Winds were fairly light but nonetheless still present, and any fresh windslabs should be localized to leeward ridgelines.  Avoid hollow sounding, rounded pillows of snow that might fracture and drag you into a terrain trap such as a gully or push you over a cliffband. Utilize small test slopes and hand pits to test the reactiveness of the new snow/old snow interface.  Check out this video for a quick tutorial of what I am looking for in a hand pit/test pit.  

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    2–3

    Observers this week have found the Solstice Rain Crust to be about 2-3 feet from the snow surface. The SRC caps the older, weaker sugar snow that formed during high pressure the first couple weeks of December.  The layer cake style of the SRC can be seen in Tom Guthrie's photos.  Much like the layer cake, the crust is composed of harder layers of ice with weaker layers of sugar snow in between.  At upper elevations on northerly tilting aspects, I would expect to find the SRC to be weaker and a person or machine could more easily trigger an avalanche into the older weaker snow that lurks below.  

    1F hard slab sitting atop the SRC on 1/6/21 at 8400' NE aspect.

Avalanche Discussion

Check out Thursday's recent observations from Lee's Shoulder.   If you see obvious signs of instability in your travels, such as recent avalanches, shooting cracks, "whumphing", and ongoing wind loading, choose simple low angle terrain to recreate in.  Great riding conditions should exist in wind sheltered terrain with slope angles less than 35 degrees. 

Regioni coperte