Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Heavy snowfall and wind loading had ceased by the time I was heading up; more on recent avalanches below. </p>
Photo shows the only two significant backcountry avalanches visible on my travels today; an explosive triggered pocket in a NE facing, steep, rocky portion of Toledo Chute; and in the distance, last night's natural from ~E facing Mt. Superior. I did my best to indicate where the visible fractures are on Superior. It's a pretty interesting slide; bigger-looking slides on superior sometimes stop well short of the willows, but perhaps the light density snow was easily entrained by the initial release.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Kind of disappointing observing today, with a few relatively pockety avalanches in steep, rocky E-NE facing terrain the only indication that our weak snow has had enough. No significant avalanches were observed in Upper Days Fork, and no cracking/collapsing was noticed as my party of 5 traversed toward Silver Fork. I have not been on any northerly slopes lately but I assume shady slopes are primed for human-triggered, deep slab avalanches.</p> <p>Substantial overnight transport of snow from 12.14-12/17 formed deep, pockety drifts along the flagstaff ridgeline, seemingly isolated to the ridgeline itself. Some small new snow slides were observed in steep rocky areas which appeared to have run during last nights storm. I'm sure there's a place where a human-triggered release within the new snow was possible today, although settlement felt significant during the day today on the most sun-exposed slopes.</p>
Today's new snow bears some wind-effect, and most southerlies took on enough solar during the day to become damp and, perhaps on S & SW-facing, there could be some crusts tomorrow. Certainly felt very different than the last couple days of very light density snow, and it has generally settled out to what feels like about 2.5 feet deep in the places where i traveled. Overnight snow had settled into yesterday's ski/skin tracks on some southerlies by the PM, with injury from collision with the Emma 2 skin track more likely than from hitting rocks. Kind of a mixed bag, actually.