Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
- Collapsing
- isolated
I went to Elephant's Back NE and NW of Elephant's Hump. I had gone to Steven's yesterday and found that the north aspects were skiing quite well midday with a small amount of soft snow on harder snow. When I ascended part of the Back ridge today, I observed that the cornices were not as well developed as they have been on the Back in the past. There were also three wet slides in the NE bowl, originating from either the corniced ridge and/or the cliffs that make up the peak/ridge area. They looked to be 1-2 days old. The small SE facing part of the bowl was pretty wet with about 20 cm pole penetration. But the descent down the truly NE facing part of the bowl was perfect and stable at 11:30; there was a small amount of soft snow on top of harder snow - creamy goodness. On the north faces off the Hump peak, I was a little too early for the top 200 feet. It was still pretty hard although not icy. The bottom half was, like the Back, very enjoyable soft snow on top of harder snow. During the tour, I saw quite a few wet slides and runnels-on all aspects. The south faces were wet and deep when I was out, but the north slopes were stable with little ski or pole penetration.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Mid 50s
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Beautiful bluebird day. Very light winds, if at all.
Snowpack
The recent warm temperatures and ample solar radiation have affected the snow greatly. I saw 20 cm deep wet snow on south aspects, but I also observed boiler plate hard snow on N aspects at 11:00-11:30 am at 9500 ft.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Type
- WL
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 9500 ft
Three wet slides off the rocks and corniced ridge of Elephant's Back.