Quick report
Fresh snow is always nice in the mountains. It provided smooth travel conditions in open areas at middle and upper elevations. While there was plenty of evidence of wind transported snow, wind slabs were hard to trigger. That may be more a function of the terrain where we traveled than the avalanche problem.
Sunshine in the morning made the snow heavy on southerly slopes, but other than a few small wet loose slides, we didn't encounter much of an issue. Clouds rolled in mid-day.
A few very short cracks in wind drifted pockets. Cracks were limited by the size of the features.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Rain Elevation
- 1500
- Recent Snowfall
- 12
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
It was a beautiful morning in over on Keechelus Ridge. Mostly sunny skies and light winds. The snow surface sparkled. Temperatures were cold, but the sun made it feel much warmer.
Snowpack
The storm brought a nice fresh coat of white to the mountains. Snow totals varied greatly by elevation. At the trailhead (2600ft) there was only a dusting. In fact, the snowpack is very thin to non-existent at these lower elevations. We found 1-3 inches between 3000-4000ft. Above 4500ft there was generally 5 inches of new snow and 5-6 inches at our highpoint (5000ft). In the forest, almost none of the new snow made it through the canopy.
Wind: You could see the impacts of the wind on nearly every exposed. Scoured surfaces, textured snow, rime, snow blown out of trees, drifts, and wind lips were common. We found drifts up to 15 inches deep. Small wind loaded pockets failed, but the cracks were short and slabs barely displaced. One test slope did produce a small slab that ran easily over the underlying crust.
Southerly: You could feel the new snow getting heavier on sunny slopes. The settlement was noticeable over just a few hours. While the snow was moist, we couldn't trigger any rollerballs or loose slides where we traveled. Clouds rolled just as we left the field at around 1pm. The new snow sat over the thick and strong AR crust.
Northerlies: The snowpack was more variable on N facing terrain. Often a thin (1 inch/2 cm) was found under the new snow. This was another 3-5 inches (~10cm) above the AR crust. We didn't find any surface hoar or facets where we traveled.
Avalanche
-Wind Slab: We were able to trigger one small wind slab on a SE aspect that ran quickly over the underlying crust. -Wet Loose: A few new small wet loose slides were seen on the SE side of Mt Margaret.