Less predictable, is any slide that fails on weak, sugary snow near the ground, or what we call persistent slabs. Remember- persistent slabs have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect. Steep, rocky terrain facing the north half of the compass and particularly slopes that avalanched near the ground earlier this season should be considered suspect.
It's like a nagging toothache, this problem just doesn't seem to go away. During our Field day last Friday, Craig and I came to a steep north-east facing slope around 10,000' in elevation and decided to back off due to the poor snowpack structure. We are still finding places that have the right set up for producing avalanches. Yes, they are hard to trigger - but, if you do trigger one - it's likely to be deep and to the ground.
Sled triggered avalanche in Gold Hill Basin, that Ted discovered from a week ago. Breaking 150' wide and failing on weak snow near the ground, check out Ted's great write-up here and video below.
GOPR0029 from ted scroggin on Vimeo.