Quick report
We found evidence of all three of our problems today:
- Persistent Slab: Moderate propagating results below our holiday slab (60 cm, up to 1F-) on a previously drifted slope at 10,600'.
- Wind slab: Remotely triggered a shallow wind slab on the low rollers (E, BTL) and moderate propagating results on a cross-drifted wind drift near ridgetop (SE NTL)
- Dry Loose: Intentionally triggered a handful of facet sluffs up to 45 cm deep on steep terrain that flushed around the New Year's cycle. These are sizeable enough to warrant extra caution compared to most sluffs.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
Snowpack
The facet sluff problem appears confined to slopes steeper than 40* that avalanched during the holiday cycle. Elsewhere, there's enough cohesion in the upper snowpack to stay in place. The snow surface is significantly more wind-affected below the bench (~10,000'), where down-valley winds have left a patchwork of hard slabs and wind-eroded slopes depending on the slope's orientation to the wind. I skied across a few hard slabs without any feedback, but on our last rollover, Christian remotely triggered one (3rd person on the slope). See the snow profile targeting persistent slab concerns.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Type
- L
- Count
- 5
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 11300 ft
Skier triggered several facet sluffs in Birthday Bowl that gained enough volume to be harmful; one had debris piles about 4' or 5' deep on a planar slope. These were all initiated from the steeper parts of the bowl, but once they got moving, they easily gained volume and momentum in more moderate angled terrain. Remotely triggered one small wind slab on a cross-drifted slope below treeline.