Quick report
The mountains were quite warm, but the snow was holding cold at the yurt level (8,700'). The yurt had lots of things to keep me busy, so I didn't get in the Hyndman Basin. On my exit, I noticed a natural avalanche that likely occurred at the end of the 12/18 wind event.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
Mostly sunny conditions and WARM.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Aspect
- NW
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 9800 ft
A large avalanche released following the wind event on 12/18 (late in the day?) , providing a clear example of cross-loading over the rib. All the snow has been scoured from the right-hand side of the rib, highlighting the redistribution of snow due to wind loading. It likely failed on the basal facets, where weak, sugary snow at the base of the snowpack served as the failure plane.