Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
- Collapsing
- isolated
Day started out cloudy and overcast. Then gave way to BKN skies by the afternoon. Sun crust was present on South aspects from yesterday's brief sun. Moderate ridgetop wind speeds were still moving snow from the mid-week storm. Evidence of wind slabs/cornice fall/and a few persistent slab avalanches were noted in the area. Skied in avalanche terrain most of the day, but kept away from true north-facing terrain. One large collapse with shooting cracks at mid-elevation occurred; found a small pocket of terrain that rolled from West to North. Ambient temp was enough to warm the snow surface on all aspects below 9000'. South aspects had become very wet and difficult to ski below 9000'. A few signs of instability were noted throughout the day. Recent cornice and small wind slab debris were evident in alpine terrain. Sun and ambient warming created small wet loose on South aspects that had a smooth surface below from the period of drought. One isolated large collapse and cracking in North terrain and the border of mid and high elevation. General impression of stabalizing conditions. The presence of the persistent weak layer still exists, however, the level of spatial variability makes it difficult to pinpoint when and where you would trigger an avalanche on this layer.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 20-30cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Snowpack
We dug one pit at 9400' on NW facing aspect. HS-215. Two weak layers are present in the upper 70cm of the snowpack. A small layer of buried surface hoar is located 55cm down from the surface; the other is a layer of facets buried 65cm down (2mm facets). Our pit gave us CT22 SC 65cm down, ECTX.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- N
- Elevation
- 8500 ft