Quick report
I went to have a look around the June Mountain backcountry, see where folks had been skiing, and get a look at a recent avalanche along the way. Lots of skiers and riders have been out in the vicinity, and I observed minimal signs of skier-initiated instabilities. Besides the rockfall-triggered slide mentioned in the avalanche comments, I observed minimal signs of natural loose wet instabilities. I found a variety of surface conditions including melt/freeze crusts, sticky transitional snow, wind effected surfaces and near surface facets. I was able to link together a long run of mostly enjoyable snow on predominantly north and east aspects.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 40
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Clear, well above freezing, and light NE winds gusting to moderate occasionally. I observed very little blowing snow.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Aspect
- SE
- Trigger
- NR
- Elevation
- 10500 ft
I got a closer look at an avalanche reported in Solar Bowl on 1/13 and added a couple new photos. From what I could tell, a large rockfall fell on the slope and forced out a relatively small avalanche (D1.5). Based on the amount of rock that impacted the slope, I'm honestly surprised that the resulting avalanche was not larger. From afar, it looks like the loose wet avalanche gouged down to the ground, but from closer, it appears to be mostly rockfall on top of the snow.