Weather
- Cloud Cover
- clear
6 to 8 inches of recent snow up through Hunter Creek area. Extensive wind transport at lower elevations through the Cement Creek Narrows and much less damage along valley bottom further up the valley. Evidence of snow transport at upper elevations from the west and then north at the end of the storm. Many surfaces were softer than I expected given the recent winds.
Snowpack
No instabilities were noted while snowmobiling around in this area, but previous traffic over the past few weeks may have had something to do with it. We dug a profile on a drifted northeast slope and found the slab above the early February weak layer is quite stiff and 2 feet-ish thick. Snowpack test produced hard propagating results on 10-15mm surface hoar.
On a southeast slope at 11,350, the upper snowpack is a stack of crusts and facets above the early February interface. Slopes without drifting do not look problematic but highly drifted slopes could potentially collapse a crust in the upper snowpack. Below the early February interface, there is a thick crust with ice columns extending through the January slab but not through the basal facets to the ground.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2 R2
- Count
- 9
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 12300 ft
Natural avalanche activity was largely in the upper snowpack, D1 - D2, and appeared to involve just recently drifted snow. A few slides may have been Persistent Slabs like one on Cement Mountain, another immediately above Cement Creek road between winter trailhead and Deadmans TH, and WSC Peak.