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Avalanche Alley

Dusty Buffington/ Mike Pagel/Bub Barkhurst/Jake HubbsSierra Madre
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Quick report

Collapsing
isolated

Avalanche Alley, should not be on one’s list of destinations currently. This area is highly wind loaded with a relatively reactive persistent weak layer about 1/3 of the way down in the snow pack. Those that have been in the area riding already, are flirting with disaster. Luck is not something that should be pushed in this area, particularly. Moving forward, we expect to see some reaction to tests on our persistent weak layer and caution should still be taken on slopes greater than 30 degrees. There were multiple storm slab and cornice fall avalanches in the area

Weather

Air Temp
27
Cloud Cover
few
Wind Loading
intense
Snow Avail For Transport
moderate amounts

Snowpack

Our total snow depth in this area was 140cm. We observed 2 main layers of concern, our “Tuesday” layer and our Christmas Crust. The Tuesday layer being the more reactive of the 2 with an ECTP15@90cm and a PST38/120END @90cm and also a CTE@95cm SP This persistent weak layer is reactive.