Dutchman's/Westside at 10,500'

Another good day in the mountains with a KPAC level 1 recreational avalanche course. Today we stayed below treeline.

From the top of the Humphreys Quad Lift, we hiked a short way down the ski area boundary to access the Humphreys trail. From there, we skinned up to the Dutchman's area. It was icy and rocky on the trail. We evaluated the snowpack in westerly terrain at 10,500'. The snowpack had poor structure and intermediate strength, and failures propagated in a weak layer about 20-30cm below the surface.  See snowpit photos. Video Link of the ECTP14 result. Another nearby pit had similar results. After the snowpack analysis, we did some multiburial rescue practice. 

For the return trip, we elected to walk back to the ski area. It was another fine day in the mountains, but it felt closer to late April than early March this weekend.