Heading to Sun Valley this weekend to ride, so been keeping my eye on the Avy reports and came across this one today.......it was funny so I had to share.
Our primary avalanche concern remains – yes, you guessed it – deep slab avalanches on the layer of weak depth hoar and faceted snow near the base of the snowpack. For the most part, this layer is showing few signs of instability – no collapsing or cracking, no natural or human-triggered avalanches. In some places, especially slopes that get lots of solar radiation, the grains in this layer are moist and gaining strength. In other places, however, this layer remains weak, and it’s still producing high-quality shears in many stability tests. The slab above the weak layer is two to five feet thick, and generally very hard. An isolated column feels nearly as heavy as a file cabinet. That’s not something you want chasing you down a slope.
This weak layer is something like a weird uncle – we haven’t heard from it in awhile and we’re glad. But there’s that nagging feeling it could show up at any moment. It’s best to avoid its main haunts – steep, cold, north-facing slopes with lots of rocks and variable snow depths.
That was funny althought I know the reality of it is not.........
Our primary avalanche concern remains – yes, you guessed it – deep slab avalanches on the layer of weak depth hoar and faceted snow near the base of the snowpack. For the most part, this layer is showing few signs of instability – no collapsing or cracking, no natural or human-triggered avalanches. In some places, especially slopes that get lots of solar radiation, the grains in this layer are moist and gaining strength. In other places, however, this layer remains weak, and it’s still producing high-quality shears in many stability tests. The slab above the weak layer is two to five feet thick, and generally very hard. An isolated column feels nearly as heavy as a file cabinet. That’s not something you want chasing you down a slope.
This weak layer is something like a weird uncle – we haven’t heard from it in awhile and we’re glad. But there’s that nagging feeling it could show up at any moment. It’s best to avoid its main haunts – steep, cold, north-facing slopes with lots of rocks and variable snow depths.
That was funny althought I know the reality of it is not.........
