Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
See other comments. Several Class 1 Instability Data Points: We saw one natural Wind Slab in Negative 1 and S-Chute. It most likely failed naturally at ridge top elevation from overloading by wind. It ran fast and far and produced an impressive powder cloud. We saw several D1 natural SS on the steep E slopes of Dream Mtn. Active cross loading was happening there. Later, after a lap in Dream Bowl in unconsolidated and light powder, we skied a little steeper terrain that was more exposed to wind loading at the entrance. Hitting a convex rollover right at the trigger point, we triggered two D1 wind slabs that fractured at the skis on the old- new snow interface and propagated 8 to 10 m out from there. The crown in both cases was 15 to 20 cm deep. It was easy to ski out because the sliding snow was still soft and light enough and the old snow interface from last weekends' storm was supportable to ski on. As we descended we set off several very soft soughs .
Weather
- Air Temp
- Below freezing.
- Cloud Cover
- broken
- Wind Loading
- intense
- Recent Snowfall
- 30 cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
High winds at ridge top elevations and big snow banners visible. Moderate winds with stronger gusts near tree line in open areas were transporting snow across and up or down slopes. Wind loading was happening before our eyes and the snow surface changed visibly between the laps we took. Temps stayed below freezing all day and the sun never made an appearance, although it cleared a bit in the afternoon. Light snow fell in the morning. S-1
Snowpack
We dug a quick pit on a NE aspect at 9960 ft. in Dream Bowl to see how deeply buried the PWL is after the storm last weekend. We found the 20 cm PWL down 400 cm. From the top down: 30 cm of new, low density F soft snow PP, sits on top of another 32 cm 4F snow, DFbk. Below that sits a seizable mid- pack that is P- or 1F+ hard. We dug to 120 cm and probed from there. HS 418 cm. The instability we experienced and saw today was in the surface layers of the snowpack. Probing for the PWL in other locations, we observed quite a big variability in snow depth. At 9980 ft. on a SE aspect across from where we dug, HS was only 250 cm. A 20 cm PWL was present with a noticeable harness difference. Lower down in the forest around 9500 ft. HS varied from 160 cm to 260 cm. The snowpack in the forest feels more uniformly soft and there is very little hardness difference in the lower layers.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2 R3
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- N
As we skied out to an opening overlooking Yost Mdw. a natural avalanche came down Negative 1. It appeared to have started at or near the ridge top and ran fast, producing a sizable powder cloud. The debris ran through S-Chute and in Negative 1. It ran all the way to the lower bench before the last slope down to the meadow.