Quick report
- Slope Angle
- 35°
Avalanche
- Slab Width
- 9 m
- Weak Layer
- New Snow/Old Snow Interface
- Trigger Type
- Skier
- Vertical Fall
- 61 m
- Avalanche Type
- Soft Slab
- Slab Thickness
- 61 cm
- Trigger Detail
- Intentionally Triggered
- Start Zone Aspect
- Northeast
- Avalanche Problem
- New Snow
- Start Zone Elevation
- 2835 m
We skied a few laps in the NE-facing terrain above Desolation Lake, where we found increasing instability throughout the day within the new snow and on the old/new snow interface. Mostly sluggish cracking/collapsing underfoot, however on steep enough slopes the loose dry, and soft slab avalanches would entrain more snow and pick-up speed, running 100-200' downslope. We triggered many small, low-consequence avalanches today, but it seemed like the slab continued to grow stronger and more reactive as the snow stacked up in the afternoon, with the likelihood of burial or injury increasing.
Pictured in the image above, the bed surface from a loose dry/soft slab combo is visible, with parts of a crown above. SS-AS-D1-R1