Persistent Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Possible
- Dimensione
- 3
The snowpack is slowly adjusting to last weeks storms and now most slopes wait for a trigger like us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath.
As the snowpack slowly gains strength, it might be harder to trigger a deep, dangerous avalanche, but the setup hasn't changed a bit. And here's why... a cohesive slab rests on multiple layers of weak, faceted snow which lurk underneath the snow surface. And what makes this particularly tricky is the powder we're riding feels light and fluffy. But the fact is, we have strong snow resting on weak snow. So, we need to think not only about the snow we're riding in, but also the snow we're riding on. But let's not get caught up with nuances and technicalities... look around. In the past few days there have been multiple slides triggered, a few close calls, and one tragic fatality nearby, with a snowpack structure similar to ours. The writing is on the wall and Mother Nature is screaming the biggest clue to unstable snow... and that's AVALANCHES!
It's a complicated picture because some slopes allow us to get on them with out incident, while others hang in the balance waiting for a trigger like us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath. Since this type of avalanche dragon is unpredictable the best way to manage it is to steer clear of it. With all the great low angle riding we can simply avoid steep terrain, especially upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass and still have a blast carving deep tranches in wide open, gentle terrain.
