Quick report
It was a great day with mostly clear skies, calm winds, and excellent riding conditions. We looked at a large avalanche triggered by a group of skiers yesterday. It was around 2.5 feet deep and over 500 feet wide. It failed on a layer of small facets underneath the recent storm snow and just above a stout crust. This persistent weak layer may take time to heal.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 75
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
It was a beautiful day with mostly clear skies, calm winds, and cold temperatures in the morning that warmed up during the day.
Snowpack
There was around 2.5 feet of total recent storm snow at upper elevations with around 2 inches of new snow since yesterday. The recent snow was low density, and riding conditions were deep. We observed only minimal wind effect in our travels on the west side today, but viewing from a distance, the swan crest appeared more wind affected.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- AR
- Elevation
- 7000 ft
We looked at a large avalanche triggered by a group of skiers yesterday. Thankfully, no one was caught, but it appeared to be a close call. The avalanche was around 2.5 feet (75 cm) deep and over 500 feet wide. The debris was significant and easily deep enough to bury someone. The powder cloud left snow several feet up on trees standing in the debris. The avalanche failed on a 10 cm thick layer of small 0.5 - 1mm facets underneath the recent storm snow and just above a stout crust.