Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Sluffs on slick crusts below about 10,000'. Common theme from a few observations from today is that the sluffs are initiating and running on lowerangled (< 30 degrees) slopes.</p>
Photo below: an easily triggered sluff that ran quite far out on to low angle slope. While it picked up snow all the way down, it didn't propagate width wise. 9,600', west facing.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Loose sluffs seemed the number one issue today, enhanced by a very slick ice crust beneath. Poor bonding of the graupel to the crusts below. Loose dry sluffs should be easy to trigger again tomorrow, especially below about 10,000'. Despite the wind, the snow didn't seem to be slabbing.</p> <p>With the forecast of<strong> direct sun tomorrow, long running sluffs could even turn to long running wet loose sluffs, with denser debris piles.</strong></p> <p>The snowpack is cooling much faster than I would have expected. I think wet slabs are unlikely until the next heating. We did find wet snow pooled in some places about a foot down, but it was very variable.</p>
Snow was almost all graupel, and seemed elevation dependent - perhaps closer to 6 to 8" new above about 10,400'.
Travel conditions: yesterday's rain soaked snow refroze much faster than I expected. A lot to learn about these rain-on-snow events. The surface ice crust beneath today's new snow varied with elevation. Below about 10,000' it was a very hard, slick ice crust. Even though all of us had ski crampons, steep slopes, especially side hilling was difficult below about 10,000'. Super slick.
As you went higher, while still a hard and frozen crust, it was more like rough frozen snow than the slick icy rain crust.
Turning and riding was fun on super low angle slopes, in wind sheltered areas. Turning was best above about 10,000' where you could start to get on steeper slopes with out hitting the crust so much. Worse below about 10,000', where the crust was more like water ice.
Photo below: patches where the wind was scoring and drifting the snow. 9500'