Quick report
This was an off duty sunset walk. My goals were to see how the snowpack was draining and refreezing, to get up high and look for recent activity, and to watch the sunset.
I traveled through large amounts of terrain and did not experience any cracking or collapsing.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
Afternoon wx obs: cumulus banks sitting on many of the mountains, looked shady in the Sawtooth, White Clouds, Smokys, and Pioneers, with some occasional pockets of sun reaching the Boulders. Steady winds blowing at upper end of moderate/low end of strong speeds out of the W/NW in upper elevation terrain.
Snowpack
The snowpack here has not undergone a complete refreeze. Thick cursts are forming on the surface overnight, but warm temps and periods of sun are breaking them down during the day. Underneath, I found a semi-drained stack of moosh. There is less free water pendant than in previous days, but we've still got some draining and re-freezing to do.
I attempted to ski a steeper pitch at sunset. After descending 1500' the crusts at the surface became unsupportable and I ended up climbing back to the summit and having a moonlit ski back down my ascent ridge.
Avalanche
- Size
- D3
- Count
- 7
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 10800 ft