Rescue

The avalanches were calling, so we headed to Rescue Basin to document the recent avalanche activity after two nights without freezing temperatures.

• We used ski crampons on the skin into the basin.  The surface crust remained supportable up to 4200 feet. 
• Temperatures in the sun were hot! The snow surface was quickly transitioning from crust to wet.
• All the southern chutes in the basin had loose wet debris. We estimated that among the loose wet debris, there were 12 D2 avalanches and 3 D2.5 avalanches.
•  The least avalanche activity was on north-facing slopes. We only observed rollerballs but exited before the day's peak heat.
• We observed one fresh D3 slab avalanche that likely failed on March 16th (yesterday) on a northeast aspect of Nyack Mountain.
• Our travel was limited to lower elevations. We chose a conservative route that did not have overhead hazards.
• Today was the first day of the season that I skied down in the layer I skinned up in.  Skiing was slushy.

Avalanches occurred in the past 48 hours.

The 10 cm surface crust was supportable before 1030am but quickly transitioned to wet.

• Ski pen increased as the day progressed.
• Boot pen was 40 cm at noon.