Quick report
- Aspect
- Northwest
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2896 m
The snowpack at 9500' on a northwest facing slope was surprisingly thin - about 50cm total depth. While this means there is less mass/weight for current avalanches, it doesn't bode well for future snow loading as there is not only a rotten base of 20cm, but the upper 30cm is also breaking down and is quite sugary. We had one major collapse with a shooting crack in a sheltered, treed area on a North/Northwest facing slope at about 9,000' which didn't propagate.
The surface snow is getting dense and wind-jacked, which makes it hard to sniff out good skiing. We also experienced very wet, warm snow at about 8,250' on sunny slopes with some roller balls occurring.
On low angle slopes, I think the danger is low, although on high, north facing, wind loaded slopes, it is probably still a strong moderate/considerable.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The weak base layer is still prevalent on upper elevation, north facing slopes, but as the slab above it strengthens, it is getting harder and harder to trigger slides.</p>