Quick report
- Aspect
- Northeast
- Red Flags
- Cracking, Collapsing
- Elevation
- 3261 m
With heavy snow and wind in the forecast these areas will likely become less stable. Gold Basin backcountry travelers will want to be well aware of the new wind deposits above them as they move through the valley bottom. Might be a good time to stick to the safe tree runs and meadows until after the new storm snow settles out.
Forecaster comments: Nate's forecast for Considerable danger today would be wholly accurate if winds had come in with the new snow. Remarkably they are light and are forecasted to remain so I'm inclined to stick with Moderate danger. Any increase in winds however will certainly result in a corresponding increase in the avalanche danger.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Increasing westerly winds on the front of the upcoming storm could transport some of the lighter, loose surface snow. We observed several small, older releases above and around the area we skied, but none of them triggered a larger slide.</p> <p>We experienced several collapses and minor cracking on NE aspects in the 25-28 degree range. Additional snowpack stress from the expected snowfall totals tonight and tomorrow could cause similar collapses to propagate further in these layers. Our CT26 Q2 test results show that these persistent weaknesses are still reactive.</p>