Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading
In the sheltered areas, it was cold with about 4-6" of new, light density snow, which on lower angle slopes was nice and stable. On upper elevation slopes, the north side was stripped of snow and the south faces ridgelines were loaded. I saw multiple skier triggered sluffs today on slopes in the mid 30 degree range, but nothing on lower angle slopes.
A snowpit at 10,498' on a south facing slope showed:
Total depth 95cm
No basal facets
20cm of new, wind drifted snow on top of a firm sun crust
ECT test of 11 with a poor shear quality and no signs of propagation
Compression test of 11 20cm down
On these upper elevation, wind loaded southerly slopes, I thought the danger of triggering an avalanche today was considerable. Although the avalanches were more like powerful sluffs in the D 1.5 range, if they entrained a larger area of swept someone over a cliff or through a terrain trap, they could be dangerous. I expect the danger on these slopes to stabilize quickly.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Although there wasn't much new snow with the storm on Friday night, there was a lot of wind from the north, which loaded up the upper elevation south facing slopes with 12-24" of new snow on top of a very firm, icy bed surface. These slabs are hard to predict as they are stabilizing quickly with the warming sun and don't show any obvious signs of cracking or collapsing... until they take off. I think they will heal quickly with a few days of continued sunny weather.</p>