Sunburst

The snow quality was good below the Sunburst ridge and where snow hadn't formed into a wind slab. Our boots could punch through the stout crust that formed in October which is a good sign that it is breaking down. Surface hoar at the parking that was harder to see around 2000'.  We saw a new glide avalanche that had released earlier this morning on Sunburst closer to Taylor Pass as we skinned. Near the ridge we found a weak layer 6" below the surface of the snow that broke with moderate pulls. This will be a layer we keep our eye on as it get loaded with more snow. Otherwise, we are still seeing new glide cracks and glide avalanches releasing in the Turnagain and Summit zones.    

New glide avlanche on Sunburst near Taylor Pass.

I noticed surface hoar at the parking lot that was harder to find as we skinned into the valley towards Taylor Pass (2,000'). We dug 2 pits below the pass at 3000’ on a west aspect. We did not get any unstable results (ECTX, ECTN14), however, we did find a buried weak layer about 6” below the surface. So far we have not heard of any avalanches failing on this layer but it may be more concerning in areas where the wind has created a thicker wind slab over it.

There is still a weak layer of snow below the October crust that we will continue to keep an eye on.