Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 3018 m
- Slope Angle
- 25°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>For several days the avalanche forecast has discussed that it is still possible to trigger avalanches in the pockety areas of shallow, weak snow. We found one of these today. It was a small area approximately 100M wide and 200M long and 29 degrees in steepness (with a steeper roll-over mid-slope). We experienced one of the largest collapses any of us had ever had. It was a thundering collapse with numerous cracks across the slope.</p>
It is a tale of 2 snowpacks. Most areas a deep and we were unable to find weak layers. In the areas that are shallow the snowpack is very weak and reactive. The included snowprofile was indicative of the slopes that we spent most of the day on. On these slopes, a shovel tilt test showed a mid-storm density change of the snow 10 cm down. We were unable to find any faceted snow in these areas. A compression test yielded results, but an ECT did not produce any results.
The included video is the other end of the spectrum and what can still be found in these shallow areas harboring VERY weak snow. This is where we had our thundering collapse, cracking, and an extended column test that popped out on isolation.
While it seems that we might have a "go anywhere" snowpack, you need to be careful and watch for these shallow snow areas. The areas may not be obvious. We were alerted to this slope being one of these spots when we approached the slope and immediately noticed how shallow the snow was.
Snowpack
Shaded snow stayed dry all day, but areas that took sun got warm and wet. Any slope that had sun on Saturday will have a crust on Sunday.