Carpenter Ridge

We toured on Carpenter Ridge today. Once we gained the ridgetop, we were able to trigger some minor cracking in wind loaded areas. The slab was very soft and sometimes we would trigger a dry loose sluff and sometimes a 40 cm wind slab in places where there was more slab cohesion. Wind slabs were failing within the recent storm snow, a few inches above the Jan 31 crust. Just below the summit, we saw the crown and debris from a size D1.5 avalanche triggered by a snowboarder. It was unclear from their track if this was an intentional or unintentional trigger. We saw one more small, D1 crown from a distance in an open area well below treeline. Some small settlement cracks were noted around trees on N aspect terrain in the area. Plenty of snow still on the ridgetops, available for transport once the winds pick back up ahead of the next storm.

Some cracking wind loaded areas. D1 to D1.5 wind slab avalanches in specific terrain.