Tallac- Cathedral Area

I went to Tallac to inspect the debris field of a large avalanche in the south facing Cathedral Bowl.  I observed multiple debris fields from the recent rain event on Sunday, March 1st. All of these avalanches are considered old (48 hrs +). They appeared like the loose surface snow entrained the wet snowpack around it and created these larger avalanches. These are good examples wet snow growing quickly and running far.  Most of these avalanches had a cornice trigger and we were located in 45° plus terrain.  It looks like they are all "wet loose" catergory.  All of these avalanches matched the advisery for that day. The avalanches are a result of rapid warming from temps and rain.  With the nightly refreezes, this cycle of large wet instabilities appears to have completed. The snowpack went through an incredibly fast melt phase, and is now frozen solid again. 

I tried to dig in the snow, and thought I might break my shovel. The low temperature the night before was 19°F and caused a knife hard surface refreeze, 8-10 inches thick.  With the recent cold temps the surface snow is very well locked up.  I did not observe any present snowpack instabilites. Slide for life situations could be a hazard.  Ski crampons and sharps might be appreciated in steep terrain. The cold east wind kept most surfaces frozen today.  Southerly areas in the trees and sheltered from the wind showed minor surface melt. There was minimal corn. It was mostly frozen rain cups and loud scratchy turns. Hitting your timing window could be advantagous to finding good conditions. It is shallow and rocky. There are small glide cracks, thin snow bridges, and open water in drainages. Getting to and from the usable terrain proves challenging. There are longer approaches, and limited areas to start skinning from the car.