South Side: Timberline

Recent rain-on-snow and now summer-like mountain temperatures left a wet, unstable snowpack. While AR's and warming are fairly common for us, the amount of recent wet slab activity is notable. These avalanche observations kept me off of nearby steep slopes and a far distance from fragile, sagging cornices around the White River. The ski quality kinda stinks (sticky) and the deep boot penetrations make climbing conditions less than ideal. Rock and rime-fall were abundant on the upper mountain. We'll need a good refreeze for conditions to improve. 

 

Wet snow instabilities.

The snowpack is not keeping up with the intense warming. Large wet slabs, loose wet, and rock/rime are all shedding off the mountain. Boot penetrations are deep and the sliding conditions are less than ideal; all things that are not preferred for spring missions on Hood.

I didn't spend much time digging in the snow today, but boot pens easily exceeded my knees, reaching depths of over 40-50 cm. I observed four different wet slabs, ranging from D2 to D3. These were mainly confined to steep, upper-elevation slopes between 6500-10,000 ft.  Check out the avalanche obs for more detailed info/pics.  

Climbing conditions above Palmer (8500 ft) are more supportable, but chicken-heads make up much of the landscape on Triangle Moraine up to Crater Rock. These were heinous to ski through. Smoother surfaces exist on east aspects around the White River/Wy'East, but that's also where I would be most concerned about the avalanche problem.