Quick report
We rode to the new weather station location to construct the station. We were surprised how well the route is holding up. There were a few icy patches on the road to Rainbow Lake and the lake was easy to cross on snow. V-Max was in good condition with a little moist snow over a firm crust (10cm thick crust). It was soft by the time we climbed out at 8pm, but an easy climb. Snow below V-Max elevation had melted through the day and was wet. We sunk to our hips when we stepped off our sleds below 1,500’. The sun was powerful today, but the northwest wind kept surfaces above 2,000’ cool. I didn’t see any loose avalanche activity through the day above that elevation. Surface conditions were mostly firm with some pockets of soft snow. Going forward the avalanche danger will be related to how much melt is occurring during the day, if you sink up to your shin in wet snow it’s time to find a colder, more north facing, aspect. A new load of snow would also change the avalanche danger, we’ll keep you posted on that in the forecast.
Weather
It was sunny and breezy today near Lost Lake. Temperatures were in the upper 20s above 3,000' and northwest wind was stustained (seemed like 10-20 mph). By the time we got the weather station constructed the wind had calmed into the single digits. There was a little bit of snow blowing off some of the surrounding peaks, but there isn't much snow left to blow in this area.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Type
- WL
- Aspect
- S
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 2000 ft
Below about 2,000’ on solar facing slopes there were some small wet loose avalanches