Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Poor Snowpack Structure
Today, we avoided steep slopes and stuck to lower angle meadows and tree riding. The video below shows wind-drifting on Baldy Mountain. It was spin drifting down on the south and east facing slopes above treeline. It also shows an avalanche on south facing Baldy Mountain near 11,100'.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>We observed a wind-drifted snow avalanche on south facing Bald Mountain.</p> <p>We dug a quick pit on a southeast facing slope near Reids Peak @ 10,200' and found just over four feet of snow (130cm) with 8 distinctive melt freeze crusts and damp facets near the ground. We found the same damp facets near the ground in a quick hand pit on an east facing slope at 9,200'.</p>
Snow surface was soft at higher elevations above 10,000' and wind-drifted close to treeline and on the ridgelines. Lower elevation terrain was melt-freeze to start the day and warmed up and became damp.
We observed some recent cornice growth on north facing slopes at 10,600' that did not have an avalanche (photo 1) when we went north, but when we came back around it had a small snowmobiler triggered wind-drifted snow avalanche that in this location was not big enough to bury anyone (photo 2).
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