Quick report
Traveled from the resort up to Party Knoll via the usual inbounds approach. Stopped to peek at Gunbarrel and then continued on. Almost able to push my entire pole into the snow in a sheltered/shaded area. Dug a hasty pit at ~5700' on a NW aspect with snow depth of 270cm; hand hardness test showed ~15cm of F, a thin/insubstantial crust, ~15cm of 4F, a ~2cm icy crust, 20cm of 1F on another thin crust. Shovel tilt and compression tests did not yield results, although the very bottom of the upper F layer did "squirt" slightly on the 5th elbow tap. Travel up and down was enjoyable; put in a zero kick turn uptrack and skied the steeper NNE aspect through the trees for a few laps. On the uptrack at around 6150, was able to pull a block out on a hand sheer test by pulling close to the boundary between the F and 4F snow, but the block itself was insubstantial.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Aspect
- NW
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 6000 ft
Multiple dry loose on steeper non-solar aspects. Appeared to be natural but may have been triggered by snow coming off of rocks or trees above.