Slab Avalanche Mechanics
If you were skiing in the French Alps last Friday… you might well have come across a slab avalanche or two (widespread slides were reported from La Clusaz, Courchevel, Les Arcs and other resorts). A particular feature of such avalanches is that the slab of snow can often stand the safe passage of several skiers before releasing in response to some later trigger. That later trigger, all too tragically, frequently comes from another skier who sees complete tracks across a slope and erroneuosly takes them to indicate that the pitch is stable.
This interesting article on Pistehors highlights recent research into these events, with a view to understanding why so many experienced mountain users appear to have been caught out this season.
