Quick report
- Aspect
- North
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing
- Elevation
- 2926 m
- Slope Angle
- 15°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Saw cracking in cut banks. Observed a collapse on the small slope where we dug our pit. It was enough to rattle small saplings and make them drop their snow.</p>
First photo below shows the pit in the profile above. The weak faceted snow (depth hoar) at the ground is about a foot thick and easy to see in the photo. It now has a soft slab on top of it that will create a large deadly avalanche.
Second photo is a close up of the sugary snow crystals near the ground. They are called facets because they have straight sides and edges. The grid on the card is 2mm.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>THIS IS THE AVALANCHE PROBLEM THAT WILL KILL. It exists on upper elevation northerly facing slopes and east-facing slopes that harbored old snow before the Thanksgiving week storms. This weak layer formed over part of October and November. It will not go away for a month or two AT LEAST. We will see more avalanches on this layer.</p> <p> </p> <p>HEADS UP: Avalanches on this layer can be triggered from flat terrain underneath steep slopes. </p>