Persistent Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Possible
- Dimensione
- 1–2
Triggering a large persistent slab avalanche is possible today, especially in the eastern areas of the zone where the snowpack is still shallow. The snow and rain over the past 48 hours have added additional load to these slabs while potentially weakening the interfaces with buried weak layers. Observers and professionals around the Wood River Valley continue to report collapsing or whumpfing. These are clear signs that triggering one of these slides remains a real possibility. Persistent Slabs can release in surprising ways and break much wider than expected.
In the Soldier Mtns, it would take some bad luck to trigger a very large, 2-6 foot thick avalanche on weak layers that formed in January. But, the consequences would be devastating. You're most likely to trigger one of these beasts on very steep, NW-E facing, middle and upper elevation slopes.