slicing a slab nearly 200 feet across and 3 feet deep. Gravity did the rest. Snow shattered and spilled down the slope. Within seconds, the avalanche was the size of more than a thousand cars ...

Over time, this process, combined with additional weight from new or wind-redistributed snow, is the prime culprit in slab avalanches, the most deadly and most common kind. In a safe, stable ...

Most avalanche-related fatalities happen from “slab avalanches”, which begin with a slab of snow sliding down a mountain. This is set off by the snow fracturing at speeds of more than 300 ...

Avalanches happen when a large, stable snowpack sits on top of a weaker, less cohesive layer of snow. Loose unstable snow acts like sand on a shuffleboard table, allowing the large cohesive slab ...

for example a layer of unconsolidated, loose snow topped by a thick, solid slab of ice. Avalanches aren't just a concern for backcountry skiers and snowboarders – in January 2022, two Colorado ...

Two types of avalanches were a concern: “persistent slab” avalanches ... “KT-22, being an example of that, it comes up to a peak and exposed area to wind. It usually would close for that ...

“Climbers, including several guided groups, were turning around at the top of the Hogsback at 10,500 feet this morning due to wind slab avalanche potential. Warming the rest of the week should ...