In the past 48 hrs. we have seen, rapidly warming temperatures, rain on snow, wind, and heavy snowfall. Honestly, I really have no clue how the buried weak layers will respond to all these changes. However, what I do know:
- We have two buried weak layers in the snowpack that have been reactive in the past, especially to loading events (wind, rain, snow).
- In the last 48 hrs. we've had up to 2.25" of snow water equivalent (that's a huge load!) to our snowpack. Don't be fooled into thinking there is only 6-10" of snow. It's all about the water weight.
- The last time these layers were loaded it led to a string of large avalanches and many close calls.
Yes, many slopes were skied yesterday and many more will be skied today. You may not see any avalanches - that's the nature of deep slabs - they are hard to trigger. However, once you find the sweet spot it often takes out all the tracks on the slope. Deep slab avalanches are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved.
Riding slopes less than 30° in steepness, with nothing above or adjacent to you is a sure bet to avoid this dragon.