Quick notes on wet snow "stability"

Quick notes on wet snow "stability"

Date

In my videos I have somewhat implied that slopes are "stable" while they have a solid melt-freeze crust, but that is only in regards to wet snow. This evening I was wondering if a (mostly dry) avalanche could be triggered multiple feet deep on the pwl on a slope with a 1-2" frozen crust on the surface? Seems possible, especially this year. (Maybe the crust would make triggering slightly more difficult, but promote propagation?) Then Nelson's observation came in and it sounds like he had a large collapse a couple feet deep on a slope with a frozen crust on the surface...

I just wanted to urge us to be cautious saying or writing, "slopes with a frozen surface are good to go", despite what I may have said in a video. A frozen surface cab rule out the wet snow danger, but you still have to assess the potential for avalanches to break on deeper buried weak layers.

Observer Name
Alex Marienthal