Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- isolated
It turned into a stormy day out in Crystal Lakes. Visibility was poor as the snow stacked up and blew around in the wind. Leeward ridgelines were getting loaded, and snow was sifting to the base of rocks and cliffs. Our skin track was filling in throughout the day. We got 2 whumpfs/collapses of the snowpack, one while skiing (see instability section). They happened early on and had us start shutting down terrain quickly, which we previously had considered. We kept things pretty tight after that, sticking to ridges and small slopes as much as we could. I got a bunch of digging in, trying to get more information on the distribution and sensitivity of the January Drought Layer (JDL) and the 1/10 complex. The bottom line is that it's scary and had us closing even more terrain. All that said, the skiing was fantastic as we skipped through the meadows, trees, and small slopes. Silver Basin was borderline all-time good as we headed back into the resort on our way to the truck.
Walking near the upper lake, we received a whumpf in the flats. Roughly 45 minutes later, there was a large collapse as the second skier on a slope rode a W aspect at roughly 6100'. There was no resulting avalanche. The slope was planar and treed; the collapse occurred while skiing through a clearing in the trees. On our descent back into Silver Basin from the Threeway Exit Chute, the snow was deep and cracking around us.Weather
The day started cloudy with patches of blue sky. That all changed mid-morning as it turned into a full-on storm day with wind and snow reaching S2.
Snowpack
Dug 3 pits today and did a bunch of tests.
N 6100' HS=321; JDL down 61cm and roughly 4 cm thick. The 1/10 complex is just below and roughly 10cm thick. A storm interface down roughly 26cm repeatedly showed up (CT26, ECTN26). When hitting columns beyond the bounds of normal testing, I got ECTP SC (+2) and CT SC (+2) on the JDL. Propagation saw tests (PSTs) yielded 30/100 END and 35/100 END.
W 6100' in a shallow location. HS = 170cm; JDL & 1/10 complex down 48cm and roughly 12cm thick. The JDL was much less defined in this area but was still present. CT25 SC within the 1/10. ECTN27 on the same mid-storm interface as above. ECTP SC within the 1/10 outside the bounds of normal testing range (+2). PSTs were 35/100 END (x2)
E/SE 6400' HS = 315; JDL not discernable. 1/21 complex down 73cm. CT10 on the midstorm interface down 28cm. ECTN. PST 40/100 END (x2)
Avalanche
We spotted a few natural loose and possibly a shallow slab on a steep rocky feature as we exited. Near ridgelines we were able to get some wind skins to fail, but hardly enough to call a real avalanche.