By Ian Hoyer EBS COLUMNIST
The snow is here! There’s snow on the ground in November. It’s deep enough that we’re already starting to ski and ride—admittedly, very cautiously. Especially after last season’s slow start, this winter is off to a great beginning. Right?
Well, although we’re as excited as anyone else to start recreating on snow, as avalanche forecasters, snow on the ground early in the fall makes us nervous about the season to come.
Thin snowpacks can change really quickly and often for the worse. Just a couple days of really cold temperatures can turn all the snow on the ground into a weak, sugary, non-cohesive type of snow known as facets. The thinner the snowpack, the faster that faceting happens. Once these facets form, they can plague us for the entire winter season. Last year, avalanches broke on these weak layers through the whole winter and into the spring. The last avalanche was triggered on these early season weak layers at the end of March—taking out the entire snowpack and requiring a helicopter evaluation of the victim. A thin snowpack and cold temperatures combine to make the perfect recipe for forming these weak layers.
While seemingly a bummer for snowsports enthusiasts, a long, dry fall can actually be perfect to lay the foundation for a safe winter of recreating. The later snow starts falling, the more likely it is going to continue snowing after it starts, rather than having a cold and dry spell to weaken the snowpack while it is still really thin.
A thick, deep snowpack is the ideal outcome for both riding and for avalanche stability. What we hope for is that once it starts snowing, it just doesn’t stop. Once the snow is more than a couple feet deep, the faceting—weakening—process happens much more slowly. Weak layers can still form in a deep snowpack, but they generally form at the surface and are not as troublesome for as long.
With all this said, we don’t have any control over the weather. All we can do is make the best of what is given to us. If there is snow on the ground, go enjoy it! Just be careful of early season hazards (rocks, stumps, etc.) and remember that if there is enough snow to ride, there is enough snow to slide (avalanche).
Hopefully the snow will keep coming and we’ll have a long, deep, stable season ahead of us! But even if things go wrong and we end up dealing with a nasty weak layer at the base of the snowpack, there will still be plenty of fun to be had on low-angled slopes.
Stay tuned to the daily avalanche forecast at www.mtavalanche.com for the most current avalanche conditions as the season gets going.
Let it snow!
Ian Hoyer is an avalanche forecaster with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
