Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Skied Ball Butte NE and SE from 0900-1300ish. About 2-3' of storm snow in the meadows and on the roads, felt more like 18-20" on Ball after wind consolidation. Wind direction was varied, including clearly having come from the West predominantly but also from the NE locally. Some areas near ridgetop were scoured down to the crust which was pencil hard and skinnable. 3x hand pits with good adherence of storm snow to the crust. Wind slab failed within the new snow, shallowly, in 3 spots. All manageable and nothing stepping down to the crust. No significant solar effect by the time we left.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Aspect
- SE
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 8000 ft
Third skier on slope, previously identified suspect wind pillow. Investigated the crown on returning up. 8-12" deep, ~50-60ft wide. Broke within the new snow on a density inversion. Remaining storm snow above the crust was slightly higher density and well-bonded to the underlying crust.