You'd think by now our persistent weak layer issues would be done... and in much of our terrain it is. And while it's been a week since the snowpack received a big thump of water, snow, and wind, it was exactly that combo that brought dormant, persistent weak layers back to life, particularly in terrain where the snowpack is thin and weak. Now here's the problem- "persistent weak layers" in the snowpack are a headache because all we need to do is find one weakness, maybe around a bush or rock that we can't see buried underneath the snow, collapse the pack, and now we've triggered a deep, dangerous avalanche. Another wild card to add to the deck is the possibility of triggering an avalanche low on the slope or from an adjacent slope.

So you're asking, "how do we manage an unmanageable avalanche dragon is the snowpack?" Well we simply avoid it and the usual suspects come to mind- steep, rocky terrain and slopes that have already avalanched this year. In addition, periphery terrain where the pack has remained shallow all season should be considered guilty until proven otherwise.

Chad was in a weak snow zone Saturday. His viddy clearly shows the setup.