Quick report
On steep sunny slopes above 5,000ft, it was easy to trigger rollerballs and wet avalanches
Weather
- Air Temp
- 38
- Cloud Cover
- scattered
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 2
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Few clouds in the morning increased by 12:30. Warm temperatures and sun made solar slopes feel very warm. Calm wind.
Snowpack
On shaded slopes and NW-NE: The early February crust is just below the surface at low elevations, with a few thin layers of overlying crusts and drier snow. At 5,000ft, 8cm of dry snow from incremental accumulation over the last week rests on a thin crust (2/14). The early February is 15-18cm↓ the surface.
Near the ridge of Big Chief Mtn at 5,500ft, SSE: the EFC was ↓27cm with multiple overlying crusts and 7cm of previously dry snow on the surface that was quickly becoming moist. At 12pm on this slope, ski cuts produced roller balls, and where slope angles approached 40 degrees, I could initiate sluggish wet slides. They quickly stopped as soon as the slope angle tapered into the mid-30s.
Skiing untracked snow on SE was sticky, and schmoo but pleasant on slopes near 40deg or over recent tracks. Trees in this area had held snow until this morning. In photos, you can see the snow melted off their south sides. Meltwater was dripping out of them.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Type
- WL
- Aspect
- SE
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 5400 ft
A few natural wet avalanches ran on steep SE-SW by 12:30, and likely more later. One notable larger slide on Lichtenberg Mtn