Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
- Collapsing
- isolated
Found good skiing on south facing slopes 7000’-6400’ less than 30 degrees. 10-12 inches of snow in the previous 24 hours came in heavy and consolidated into a storm slab that skied fast and smooth. The storm snow seems to be bonding well to the surface snow prior, hand shear results were very hard or negative throughout the day at this interface. Ski penetration 4-6 inches, boot penetration 30-40 inches. The rain zipper crust from previous days has become less easy to find in hand pits and seem to be breaking down. We did observe a natural avalanche that is noted in the observation as well as collapsing and cracking. Audible collapsing on south slopes 6600-7000’, cracking was isolated to unsupported slopes within the storm snow.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 30
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- 4600
- Recent Snowfall
- HN24 25-30
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Relatively warm and foggy day with a few intermittent snow showers. Less than an inch of snow during the day. Winds were light and up valley from the south.
Snowpack
10-12 inches of snow in the previous 24 hours came in heavy and consolidated into a storm slab, that seems to be bonding well to the surface snow prior, hand shear results were very hard or negative throughout the day at this interface. Ski penetration 4-6 inches, boot penetration 30-40 inches. The rain zipper crust from previous days has become less easy to find in hand pits and seem to be breaking down.
Avalanche
Natural avalanche observed on Simmons ridge, D2-D3, ENE, start zone 7200’, vertical fall 800’. Too poor of visibility to capture a photo or get a look at the crown. Crown estimated at 3 feet deep and 100-150 feet wide based on debris field and previous test pits dug near this slope. Debris filled the creek and flowed up and over a small ridge on the opposite side of the path, plastering trees with snow. Broken trees could be seen in the debris.