Location: Paradise Divide Area
Date of Observation: 12/09/2018
Name: Evan Ross
Subject: Managing West for PSa
Aspect: West
Elevation: 10,500-12,000
Avalanches:
Saw a small windslab run naturally in the afternoon at an ATL elevation, on a southerly slope above the 401 trail.
Weather: Mostly clear and generally light northwest winds. At ridgeline moderate gusts where just enough to drift snow. Drifting snow was happening mostly above the elevations we traveled.
Snowpack: Recreational pow day. Bottom line, traveled on westerly slopes with the same Persistent Slab terrain management that I would use on say, a northerly slope. You could easily feel the PS structure with your pole. We didn’t investigate further and managed our exposure for that problem. Skied to 35 degrees with no obvious signs to instability. Skied steeper slope angles on slopes that had previously avalanched this winter and had lost the PS structure. HS ranged from 80-100cm
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