Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Six out of seven red flags means it’s time to take a step back.</p>
Went up to the Guardsman’s Pass, Great Western area today. We headed for a N facing shot that is easily ski cut but by the time we got to the ridge line the S wind was nuking transporting snow onto the N facing leeward slopes and the PI rates were high. Upon our approach to the slope we were heading too we got a collapse which in turn released a wind slab remotely 40ft away from us. The wind slab was about 50ft wide and ran 50 to 60ft down the slope. The wind transport on the ridge line was impressive depositing way more snow to the suspect N facing slopes than high PI rates ever could. The starting zones of these slopes were being rapidly loaded and slabbing up. We decided to skip the ski cutting thinking it would most likely avalanche and we retreated down the S facing trying to escape the beat down we were getting on the ridge line from the wind. Cracking and collapsing was still the norm in undisturbed terrain with old snow underlying it.
Photos: remotely triggered wind slab, wind transport on the high ridge line, cracking and collapsing
Snowpack
There seemed to be 4 to 5 inches of new snow from yesterday and last night, with some graupel mixed in.