June Backcountry

We traveled on a variety of aspects at all elevations to verify today's avalanche forecast and note how much soft snow sits atop older crusts before temperatures climb through the week.

We found small, isolated wind slabs and cornices above treeline as a result of northeast winds. We were able to kick off a few cornices and got localized cracking in drifted snow. The trace to 6 inches of recent surface snow thawed below about 10,000 ft. in the afternoon sun, be we could not trigger so much as a rollerball.

We found 2 very small natural wind slab avalanches that likely failed last night or this morning, and we were able to kick off a few small cornices and got localized cracking in some thin wind slabs on south-facing slopes above treeline.

Near and below treelines conditions were generally dust on breakable crust with a trace to 4 inches of soft (F) recent snow over a thin melt-freeze crust. This melted a little in the afternoon sun below 10,000 ft. though we could not trigger even a rollerball. When temperatures climb and north winds calm there is more snow that can transition to wet on northerly slopes where ski penetration was 15 cm and boot penetration broke through the thin crust 30 cm down to a more supportable old melt-freeze crust.

Above treeline surfaces were more wind-affected with sastrugi and stripping on the northeast sides of ridgelines and wind-stiffened snow (F+ to 4F) in catchment zones on all aspects. Where there was soft (F) recent snow above treeline is was about 2-6 inches sitting on older (4F) wind drifts or on hard (1F to P) thin wind board. Ski crampons were occasionally handy crossing steeper slopes with this dust on wind board structure.