Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
- Collapsing
- isolated
Natural avalanche activity, collapsing, shooting cracks, and propagating test pit results were all observed that confirmed instabilities. Besides the new snow/old snow interface that was the main culprit, a spooky collapse on a hard wind slab from the ridgeline told us deeper problems exist. Kept it mellow on slopes below 30 degrees gathering information and practiced cautious route finding to manage terrain.
Whoomphing and collapsing began around 1,000ft and continued as we gained elevation. We quickly identified the new snow/old snow interface. At 2,800ft we had a large collapse over a hard wind slab on the ridge in a shallow spot near trees. A shooting crack appeared and the whoomph lasted for 5-10 seconds as it propagated out and around.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Rain Elevation
- 1,000ft
- Recent Snowfall
- 30-70cm+
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Increasing clouds throughout the day. Calm. Below freezing temps above 500ft.
Snowpack
- New snow from March 6-9th has consolidated into a slab and is sitting over a weak and sugary old snow surface down 30-70cm+.
- The new snow/old snow interface was easy to feel while probing, failed during kick-turn tests, and repeatedly whoomphed throughout the day.
- Around 1,000ft the test failures were easy and became harder as we climbed in elevation, likely due to the slab gaining strength or stiffening.
- The weak layer interface never went away and propagated in an extended column test at 2,5000ft on a N-aspect with ECTP26 down 70cm.
- A variety of surfaces exist under the new snow including a hard wind slab that propagated when we got to a large whoomph and shooting crack.
Avalanche
Two D2 avalanches were observed around 2,500ft on a N-aspect below terrain features. These most likely ran during the storm event on March 8th. See the avalanche occurrence database for more information.