Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>The stiff wind slabs in this area were pretty locked up, but the steady west winds continued to build large wind drifts on the east facing terrain.</p>
This east zone always recieves it's share of wind and there is quite the contrast of where the snow ends up.
Some of the weakest snow I've seen this season was in this snow pit just off the ridge line. Not much of a slab here, but with more wind and snow this would be an area to watch more closely.
Even in the trees the wind seems to find a way to form these wind drifts.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Could not get some of the wind drifts to crack much or move, but I did not mess with the big monsters. Find a shallow spot connected to these large drifts and the slope could produce an isolated wind slab avalanche.</p> <p>Dug a pit in a quite shallow location and the largest weak sugary snow (facets) I have seen all season. This pit is not a true representation of the snow conditions, but there are places where the snow is still shallow. Not much of a slab on top of this spot, but I would suspect some of the wind slabs are sitting on this set up.</p>
Took a trip to Elizabeth Pass to look at weak snow and this place always gets lots of wind. This east zone does not typically get the snow amounts like you would find in the Whitney Basin area and the wind always seems to blow up here!