Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>See below</p>
Shallow skier-triggered slab near the ridge of Honycomb on the northwest facing slope. It was quite steep, more than 40 degrees. The new snow was sliding easily on the hard, old crust underneath on the very steep slopes.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The new snow sluffed easily on the old, hard, icy crust on any steep slope. In some places near the upper ridglines, it would crack out in small, soft slabs. These avalanches were quite manageable but something you had to pay attention to steepness and consequences. </p> <p>The winds stayed quite reasonable so they did not build too many wind slabs along the ridges where we were but I suspect there were some more exposed places or higher elevations where wind slabs were being formed. If the wind comes up tonight or tomorrow, as forecast, we will have to worry about lots of wind slabs because there is so much snow available for transport.</p>
Dense powder was best at elevations above 10,000' where it was quite creamy and it was a bit manky at elevations of 9,000' and below. It was good riding with about 7-8 inches of dense powder on a hard, icy crust. A lot of the south facing slopes below 9,000' are quite thin these days with lots of rocks but all the other slopes have good coverage.