Quick report
- Aspect
- North
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 3018 m
- Slope Angle
- 33°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The main concern today was the wind. We noted wind loading in multiple locations but it was confined to just off of upper elevation ridgelines. We saw a handful of wind slabs that had failed over the last few days. Most were small isolated pockets.</p>
Photo 1: An old Persistent Slab Avalanche (We dug out pit adjacent to this avalanche)
Photo 2: An older Wind Slab avalanche in Willow Creek Drainage South of Currant Creek
Photo 3: Snow Pit Profile
Photo 4: 3-4 Millimeter Facets
Photo 5: Red Sky at Night, Sledders delight!
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The main problem we encountered today was freshly formed wind drifts on upper elevation aspects. These were primarily found on Southerly facing aspects. The fresh slabs were small and isolated but we did see evidence of some other larger wind slabs from the last several days. See photo below.</p> <p>We did not see any new evidence of this avalanche problem today. However, the way our snowpack is currently structured with strong snow stacked on top of weak snow is still enough for me to remain cautious and avoiding steep north-facing terrain. The good news is that we did not see widespread activity that is breaking into the buried weak layers of snow near the ground and our snowpit stability tests today were not producing failure on those weak layers. For me that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet, I will be waiting to see what happens with this next storm. 1' to 2' of snow and some wind might add enough weight to the snowpack for those deep weak layers to come to life and produce deep and deadly avalanches. Time will tell, stay tuned.</p>
Surface riding condition remained excellent today. Most slopes, except for upper elevation exposed terrain still held soft powder.