Tatoosh Range

Opted for Tatoosh range given recent wind and lingering cloud cover at Paradise. From Narada Falls new snow was not wind affected and felt very stable, roughly 14cm of new snow. Touring up to Castle we experienced no signs of instability. Creeks and thin coverage were the biggest hazards. Creeks are deeper than usual. MWind had drifted some areas (bowls, gullys) with up to nearly 50cm of new snow. At 5700ft when we broke out of tree cover we immediately noticed a zipper crust (from freezing fog or wind?). This crust was mostly negligible but in some areas near rocks it was much thicker (4mm) and more icy. Snow above this point was also noticeably wind affected. Skiing down we triggered a small (D1) avalanche in a constricted gully. This was in a wind loaded feature around 5400ft. The snow broke cleanly on a zipper crust layer roughly 20cm down, perhaps the freezing fog layer from 12/20. We were surprised by the slide given that we saw no other instability all day. This 12/20 crust and perhaps the new crust above treeline may prove to be layers of concern in specific terrain. A good day for exploration and getting used to the new snowpack. Still very early season conditions.

Quick report