Persistent Weak Layer

Same

persistent slab/crust/facet/sammich that is tricky if i limit my hazard forecasting to the number of blows delivered to a shovel blade by a human arm. Not tricky if i observe and digest the parade of natural and skier initiated avalanche activity. Right now, i dont really care how many times i had to hit my shovel to get a failure, propagation is happening and is not hard to see all around. Am i gonna ski a steep pitch because in one pit it took 29 taps to get a failure and propagation vs 22 with no prop. in my pit earlier in the day/week? Pit results are best at identifying broad trends and, like all statistical data, less effective with individual inferences. i dont think i would trust a handful of pit results over what basic observation is screaming. The risk is variable and our best quantitative methods of stability assessment are not currently dependable. Best to overestimate the risk and avoid the dubious extrapolation of stable pit results. Loads of great turns (as per usual this year) in sheltered terrain between 7-9k. not much natural or skier triggered activity. a thousand pole pits this week show the mild weather is attenuating the hardness differences and other assorted vagaries of poor structure within the pack at these elevations.