Mt. Ellinor

There were no signs of recent or past avalanches in the chute; however, there were small pinwheels where snow had blown off trees and picked up some saturated snow in the past (perhaps the previous day). Half way up the chute, a quick pit on a wind loaded S facing slope located one crust (~3/8” thick) about 16” from the surface and another similar crust 12” below the first crust. Snow above and below each crust was finger to 4-finger. A hand shear test near this pit produced a failure at the first crust with moderate force—the shear plane was rough. A hand shear test of the remaining snow above the lower crust produced a more pronounced flat shearing surface with moderate force. Successive ski cuts on S, SE, and SW slopes in the chute did not produce significant failure at either crust. On our descent, the upper portion of the chute was dense from the heavy winds whipping up and down, but this area did not produce any slides, whoomfing, or shooting cracks. The snow turned to heavy, firm mash potatoes soon after entering the chute. We noticed infrequent, small pinwheels form from some of the slough starting halfway down the chute.

Quick report