Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
Toured out to Microdot benches for snowpack day for an AAS level 1 course. We found a generally unstable snowpack with variable, wind affected surface conditions. The fresh batch of wind slabs from last night and this morning, were reactive to human triggering and unstable in instability tests. Winds were transporting snow in the early afternoon at ridgetops, but seemed to be dying down through the day. We experienced multiple collapses, shooting cracks, saw two skier triggered avalanches, and had positive test slope/ski cut results. All of these were, and appeared to be within the fresh wind slab formed overnight and through the morning.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 20s
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Rain Elevation
- NO
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Observed moderate wind loading / flagging at upper elevations. Some snow being blown by the winds forming slabs at low elevations by the little su. Mostly clear, warm strong sun, cold wind.
Snowpack
Between the three groups, we observed a generally variable snowpack with poor structure, fair strength, and moderate energy. Snowpack was made up of basal facets, overlaid by an old hard slab, and in some places, alternating thin facet layers and old wind slabs. Surfaces were variable with some places with a few inches of soft facet pow and others with breakable or supportable wind affected snow. Snowpack instability tests at ~3400' on SW aspects showed concerning results; with the reactive fresh wind slab (10-30cm thick) and stubborn results on the large (4mm) facets at the ground. ECTP19 on basal facets, ECTP2 10cm down at the fresh wind slab.
Avalanche
Observed two, small, skier triggered avalanches on the Eldorado bench. Both appeared to be small thin wind slabs that ran like a dry loose. On the Microdot benches, we had small avalanches on freshly wind loaded test slopes.