It's a tale of two snowpacks and they both have differant personalities. Where the pack is deep, avalanche concerns are pretty straight-forward and focus within the top layers of the snowpack. Last weeks light, fluffy storm snow is now capped with a strengthening slab along with yesterdays storm. Once triggered, today's avalanches can break a couple feet deep, failing on the new snow/old snow interface. Don't under estimate these avalanches, they're packing a punch and could easily ruin your day. Sounds easy enough.... right?
Well, not so straight-forward and much trickier are avalanches that break to the ground. Slopes that avalanched big during the Solstice Storm, left behind a weak, shallow snowpack and now we've stacked strong, cohesive snow on top. It's a lot like an early season snowpack and with all the additional snow, water, and wind we've piled on top, we're at a critical point in the snowpacks existence. Sure, alot of steep terrain avalanched during the height of yesterday's storm, however, many steep mid and upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass just need a trigger like us to come along and knock the legs out from under the slab. Any avalanche that breaks to the ground will leave you feeling like you went 10 rounds with Holly Holm... yup, you're gonna get your butt handed to you.
So with all this complexity how do we ride safely? It's actually pretty basic... simply steer clear of steep wind drifted slopes, especially terrain that faces the north half of the compass. Slopes that avalanched to the ground during the Solstice Storm are thin and weak and remain guilty until proven otherwise.
Big differance is snowpack depth, strength, and stability. JG's pit from yesterday clearly illustrates our current setup. More on his travels found here.
Where the snowpack is deep, shears breaking to weak snow near the ground are getting ragged and lack energy, suggesting a turn towards stronger snow.
Where the snowpack is shallow, it's a weak sugary mess. This snowpit is from a slope that avalanched during the Solstice Storm. Now a strong slab rests on top of this gong show, adding a layer of complexity to our current snowpack setup.