Skeleton/Summit
Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
- Collapsing
- isolated
12-18" of recent snow on top of the late-March crust with plenty of wind affect. Wind slabs were widespread above tree line on all aspects. The most sensitive slabs were found around tree line where today's westerly winds were forming fresh slabs (4-8" thick) on top of the soft powder snow beneath. We initiated several collapses and shooting cracks (5-25' long) in cross-loaded terrain between 6000-6500'. Slabs at elevations above 7000' were not as sensitive to triggers as the soft layer of powder snow was missing. Basically, there were just stacks of wind slabs formed on top of the late-March crust and these slabs appeared to be bonding fairly well. The late March crust was supportable in boots on sunny aspects. On shady/northerly aspects it was only 1-2" thick where we observed it above 7500' but it extended to our high point at 8770'. Hand pits revealed some faceting around this crust but not a real concerning weak layer in this location at this time. No avalanches from the last couple days. We did see one old hard slab on the east face of Skeleton Mountain with the top of the crown at 7400' and debris terminus at about 7000', HS-N-R3-D2-O.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Mostly clear in the morning with increasing clouds and westerly winds as the day progressed. No precipitation.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2 R3
- Type
- HS
- Aspect
- SE
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 7400 ft
We saw one old hard slab on the east face of Skeleton Mountain with the top of the crown at 7400' and debris terminus at about 7000', HS-N-R3-D2-O.