BYO Snorkel

Today we went sledding at Seaton Basin. It was deeeeeeeep. We saw 2 size 2 storm slab avalanches at treeline on North and Northeast facing slopes. These avalanches were 50 - 80 cm deep. We also saw cracking 30 cm deep in front of our feet when we stepped off the sleds on a small test slope at treeline. There is up to 80 cm of new snow over the Jan 25 rain crust. We avoided avalanche terrain today and made sure to stay within sight as we wanted to avoid triggering storm slab avalanches, as well as other hazards like snow immersion and treewells. We dug on a north facing slope at 1400m and found 30 cm of storm slab that failed very easily in a Compression Test (while cutting out the column). The block also failed 55 cm deep on another storm layer with easy taps (CT E 9 RP down 55 cm). Sleds were penetrating 80 - 100 cm into all the new snow and boot penetration was about 50 cm. There was continued snow throughout the day, light southerly winds and poor visibility.