Quick report
We found about 12 inches of snow above the warm-spell crusts. The recent snow remains soft, even in the half-dozen wind-drfted test slopes we encountered. We saw one small, fresh Storm Slab avalanche below northeast-facing cliffs triggered by sluffing from above, along with numerous small loose avalanches from Tuesday night's storm.
Weather
Bitter cold. Northwest winds blew through the day, but they were more gusty, less efficient for drifting.
Snowpack
Supportive south-facing crusts held around a foot of recent snow that appeared well bonded to the new snow. East and west hold thinner crusts above facets which will become dangerous if we see thick slabs develop this weekend. Northerly slopes had a thin crust under the new snow near the valley floor, but transitioned to just a faceted interface above around 10,000 feet.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Type
- L
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- N
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 11800 ft
The natural activity from Tueday night's storm included numerous Loose Dry avalanches pouring out of cliffs. One of these triggered a small Storm Slab avalanche that didn't gouge. On north-facing slopes over 40 degrees, we could push the new snow as a loose avalanche that would gouge into the faceted old snow once it gained momentum.