San Francisco Peaks / Kachina Peaks Wilderness

The chances of a skier or rider triggering an avalanche are unlikely, yet not impossible.  There is the remote chance of avalanche hazard related to new snow in the form of wind slab and dry loose avalanches; and the long lasting issue of persistent slab on north aspects in areas of thin coverage.  The hazard increases in steep consequential terrain where rock-lined chutes and gullies present shallow snowpack and significant terrain traps.  Assess newly wind loaded areas, and avoid these if cracking or shearing is observed.  

In the last 48 hours, 3-6 inches of new snow has fallen on the San Francisco Peak's high-elevation slopes making for two isolated additional potential problems, beyond the persistent slab mentioned above.  The first is that there is a small chance that gusts, reaching into moderate windspeeds from the north and east, may have resulted in wind slabs in some isolated areas, including starting zones and catchment zones.  These wind slabs could be soft and may release under the weight of a skier or rider.  Any avalanches of this type would be small but could knock a rider off their feet and into hazards below.  Second is the potential for dry loose avalanches in areas where new snow is unconsolidated by wind.  These two problems deserve mention today because they are potentially made more reactive by the hard and icy surface crusts present on Thursday.  These surface layers could act as ideal bed surfaces for either of the problems listed above.

As a note of future interest, but unlikely not a current issue, is that on Wednesday, a layer of facets was found beneath north facing surface crusts.  This weak layer was unreactive in stability tests, and Thursday's snow failed to load it significantly, but it could be a layer of concern if we were to receive significant precipitation in the future.

As mentioned, before the most recent storms of Thursday and Friday, a myriad of wind and sun crusts were present on small and large scales across the mountain.  Nearly every surface across the inner basin was affected.  The most recent storm delivered a layer of relatively moderate-density snow, measured at 10% density, on the mountain's west side.  At the Snowslide Canyon SNOTEL, a mere .3" of SWE was recorded.  This did little to load the underlying weak layer of basal facets.  As time continues and if our spring-like conditions persist as expected, this problem will likely be dropped from the forecast.

Conditions in the backcountry could be much improved from earlier in the week.  The underlying pre-storm surface conditions will likely be a factor in finding the best turns, and could make for tricky skinning conditions, but reports thus far suggest that turns are much improved. Ski and ride with care and watch for the remote possibility of small avalanches or funky conditions carrying a skier or rider over steep or rocky terrain.

Come join Kachina Peaks Avalanche Center on Saturday, April 6th, at the Agassiz Lodge deck for the Mikee Linville Fundraiser!  All proceeds from this event go to our scholarship fund, which, to date, has resulted in over 29K of scholarship benefits!  For more information on how to get involved, visit kachinapeaks.org.  Much thanks to everyone who made our avalanche courses a success this season and a big thank you to all our participants!