Quick report
- Cracking
- widespread
We toured up to the Old Growth and observed a large natural avalanche in the Bardini Chutes (R2D2). It appeared to have been a windslab that broke in the new snow. Surface conditions in the Old Growth were highly variable, with stiff sastrugi and windboard across aspects and elevations, and small pockets of soft snow on true north aspects. Even sheltered terrain hosted significant sastrugi and wind effect. This made travel across the terrain more difficult than usual. We observed many broken branches in the Old Growth that had presumably come down during the last extreme wind event. That said, we saw very little wind transport due the small quantity of soft snow still available for transport. From the Punta Bardini ridgeline, we were able to get a good look at the wind scouring that occurred throughout the storm cycle, and noticed that leeward aspects were stripped nearly bare in Solitude Canyon. Moderate winds were blowing during our tour, with gusts to strong.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- NO
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Moderate winds were blowing during our tour, with gusts to strong. The sky was clear, becoming scattered throughout the day.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2 R2
- Type
- U
- Aspect
- N
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 9600 ft
We observed what appeared to be a D2 natural avalanche in the Bardini Chutes. It appeared to have been a windslab, but we did not get close enough to inspect. The avalanche appeared to have stopped in the middle of the track.