Avalanche: Maybird Gulch

We were treated to 3-8" of light density, unconsolidated snow on all aspects above 8k, which was sitting atop a generally rock hard bed surface. Above 8800' this bed surface was a uniform windboard, and below that it was a heat crust of varying thickness. Above 10,000 feet we observed some natural loose dry avalanches within the new snow, and triggered many, slow moving loose dry avalanches while skiing within the new snow. This was generally a non-issue but they did entrain a significant amount if snow in some cases, usually in gullies where more new snow was deposited. The snow was unaffected by winds other than exposed ridgetops, where increasingly strong winds out of the WSW in the morning, and ENE in the afternoon stripped the snow away. West aspects up to 10,200' were moist by late afternoon, but the rest of the compass stayed dry.

The most significant of the loose-dry activity that we observed today(R1-D1) is captured in the video above. Looking closely, you can see some cracking on the left side about 0:05 seconds in. This one was definetly enough to ruin a day if you were caught and carried, given the low-tide conditions and exposed rocks in the runout. Luckily, they were predictable and easy to manage, but I could see that changing with the increasing winds throughout the day.