Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>There was debris from a small avalanche that came down from the very steep starting zones near the Mineral Fork/Lake Blanche ridgeline. Based on the snow on the debris, the slide occurred late Friday or Friday night. The debris did not run very far down the slope. I took a picture but the light was too flat to produce anything worth posting.</p>
The underlying surface on this northeast facing mid-elevation slope (GB No) was a mixture of settled powder and some wind slabs that were buried by 1 foot of new snow. We experienced no cracking or settlement at all through the day. We never pushed into the steep starting zones above the slope, but started skiing just below them. We did ski over a number of convex break overs with no activity. Skiing conditions were excellent. I don't think I've ever seen as many skiers/riders in Mineral Fork as I did today. I think there were nearly 20 vehicles parked on the BCC road at the trailhead and I saw at least 9 more skiers/riders enter the drainage from the East Fork.
Snowpack
The snow was not as deep as what I saw in Upper BCC and Upper LC on Friday, with the new snow in Mineral Fork having settled to about 1 foot in depth. However, the snow provided more flotation and kept us off the old tracks more than on Friday. So, while Friday provided nearly continuous in your face powder skiing that looked like the greatest skiing of your life while your skis were actually riding on the underlying crust, the skiing was actually better today