Least stable snowpack in the US?

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  • Whiteroom_Guardian
    ____________________
    • May 2008
    • 17394

    #1

    Least stable snowpack in the US?

    CO correct?

    I am having a debate right now and want a solid source for this if it is indeed fact.

    I swear Ihave heard this from a bunch of people, but maybe I am delusional.
    www.LastBestRealty.com
    www.freeridesystems.com
  • Summit
    *NOT* an expert
    • Oct 2003
    • 23253

    #2
    What is your definition of unstable?
    Originally posted by blurred
    skiing is hiking all day so that you can ski on shitty gear for 5 minutes.

    Comment

    • VC
      Calmer then you are Dude
      • Oct 2004
      • 1242

      #3
      Ruby's?

      123

      Comment

      • Whiteroom_Guardian
        ____________________
        • May 2008
        • 17394

        #4
        Originally posted by Summit
        What is your definition of unstable?

        Well thats part of the problem. How do we really define "stable"?

        Take CO's Gore Range for example. It seems like 99% of those lines are unskiable in midwinter, and many are only in perfect stable condition once every 10 years or so.

        I know CO has the most avalance fatalities on record, but how many of those were miners/train guys who were in the wrong place at the wrong time in the 1800s?
        www.LastBestRealty.com
        www.freeridesystems.com

        Comment

        • bennettc14
          A Harlem Man Named Tron
          • May 2007
          • 1122

          #5
          I've read somewhere that it was the San Juans in CO, like the Wolf Creek area. No first hand experience though, I was googling stuff about the area for a possible BC/Cat trip and ran into it. I could be wrong but I think the skier traffic there is less than other places so the most unstable snow pack doesn't necessarily claim the most victims.

          Comment

          • SkiED
            Advres gobbles my cock
            • Jan 2006
            • 935

            #6
            colorado doesnt get enough snow to produce dangerous avalanches.

            Comment

            • Dside11-11
              Small Big Mountain Skier
              • Jul 2005
              • 2002

              #7
              Originally posted by VC
              Ruby's?

              123
              No

              12345
              Chocolate? This is doodoo, BABY!

              Comment

              • Sirshredalot
                Ski nerd
                • Oct 2005
                • 6250

                #8
                Originally posted by Whiteroom_Guardian
                I know CO has the most avalance fatalities on record, but how many of those were miners/train guys who were in the wrong place at the wrong time in the 1800s?
                I think the reason CO has the most fatalities is because there are shitloads of people out there to trigger and get caught. I don't know any reason why the pack there would be dissimilar from other intermountain/continental packs, like in WY or MT, for example. But CO has more people.

                Comment

                • telepariah
                  village idiot
                  • Oct 2006
                  • 1300

                  #9
                  Well, Colorado has more terrain above 12,000 feet than any similar region and correspondingly higher winds. The development of hard slabs, the deep slab instability and, persistent weak layers are more widespread than in other regions. Depth hoar development in a lot of Colorado is also more ubiquitous due to thin snowpacks and cold temperatures. But just saying Colorado has the most unstable snowpack is an inaccurate way of describing something that varies considerably in both time and space. It would be more accurate to say that the instability in Colorado has resulted in more fatalities than any other region in north America because of the combination of these factors and the large population that includes lots of people who want to play in the high alpine during winter. Seems like your argument could be decided by hair splitting whichever way it goes.

                  And wasn't the most fatal train-related avalanche in Washington anyway?

                  I boiled my thermometer, and sure enough, this spot, which purported to be two thousand feet higher than the locality of the hotel, turned out to be nine thousand feet LOWER. Thus the fact was clearly demonstrated that, ABOVE A CERTAIN POINT, THE HIGHER A POINT SEEMS TO BE, THE LOWER IT ACTUALLY IS. Our ascent itself was a great achievement, but this contribution to science was an inconceivably greater matter.

                  --MT--

                  Comment

                  • VC
                    Calmer then you are Dude
                    • Oct 2004
                    • 1242

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Dside11-11
                    No

                    12345
                    Well, alright then

                    Comment

                    • Solesides
                      Registered User
                      • Jul 2007
                      • 633

                      #11
                      In trying to reach a definition of stable, I'm surprised people aren't talking even at all about frequency, never mind deaths. As always, size matters, too. But data is data, trends are trends and it's up to you to make them argument worthy. I just don't buy the line of reasoning that fatalities = stability indicator

                      Comment

                      • carlobee
                        Registered User
                        • Jul 2009
                        • 292

                        #12
                        everyone has different views and opinions about "stable" i guess.

                        Comment

                        • _Aaron_
                          Registered User
                          • Oct 2007
                          • 2678

                          #13
                          Continential snowpacks such as in most places in CO are usually considered unstable due to the thin pack/less snow and persistant weak layers such as hoar. (As stated by telep above) This results in more climax avys and less direct action ones as opposed to a maritine pack that has few to no persistant weak layers and a deep pack causing more direct action avalanches and few climax ones.

                          So more or less does your defination of unstable relate more to number or size?
                          "The idea wasnt for me, that I would be the only one that would ever do this. My idea was that everybody should be doing this. At the time nobody was, but this was something thats too much fun to pass up." -Briggs
                          Originally posted by LeeLau
                          Wear your climbing harness. Attach a big anodized locker to your belay loop so its in prime position to hit your nuts. Double russian Ti icescrews on your side loops positioned for maximal anal rape when you sit down. Then everyone will know your radness
                          More stoke, less shit.

                          Comment

                          • ectreeskier11
                            Addicted to blow...er.
                            • Oct 2008
                            • 3342

                            #14
                            I'm an avy jong, I know Utah's supposed to be fairly "safe" in relation to CO snowpacks, but less stable than maritime (I think I've got that right). Can anyone shed some light on the dangers/problems with an average Utah midwinter snowpack? And why? Just interested cuz I just got here.

                            Comment

                            • RootSkier
                              Jack A. Orseoff, Esq.
                              • Nov 2005
                              • 13817

                              #15
                              The problem is that it snows so damn much.

                              Comment

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