Valanga

Mount St Helens Worm Flows

Phil MWest Slopes South
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Foto dell’osservazione 1Foto dell’osservazione 2Foto dell’osservazione 3

Quick report

Overall warm and sunny, but much windier than expected with very variable snow conditions. All across the mountain saw cornices overhanging on East aspects and winds scouring across South and East aspects at higher elevations. Down low(<5500 ft), found snow with a thin unsupportable crust and grainy mush underneath. Ankle deep boot pen on ascent at night, keep deep post holing on descent in late am. Saw debris from multiple wet loose and one slab (possibly from cornice fall) avy's down low on E and SE aspects. Mid mountain (~5500-7500 ft) - supportable crust in the early am. Hand pit showed about a 1in crust overlying a 6in slab that seemed pretty well bonded and took a decent amount of effort to shear off. Upper mountain (7500+ ft) - weak crust with sole deep boot pen in the am. Hand pit there showed the same 1in crust above dry powder with no discernible slab. Powder seemed well bonded and did not pull loose at all.

Avalanche

Multiple wet loose and one slab possibly due to cornice collapse. All on lower mountain, below approx 5500ft, on E and SE aspects