Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Wind loading and recent avalanches from east wind event on 12-30-2014. No more recent activity or obvious signs of instability.</p>
Strong east wind spread fir needles and branches all over the snow and uprooted trees in exposed upper elevation terrain. Proving the magnitude of last week's wind storm.
We could see evidence of a few fairly recent wind slab avalanches in both northeast and southwest facing upper elevation terrain.
We came across this strange glide crack high on Cougar Peak, ~20' long, 5cms+ wide, and at least a couple feet deep. The crack was on a fairly low angled slope, but with a huge whale of drifted snow on a steep roll just below.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Large stiff wind slabs and deep drifts, but not especially sensitive. We triggered some localized cracking, but did not venture onto obvious wind slabs on steep slopes. </p>
Snow surface badly wind jacked with widespread rime-crust also. Strong winds uprooted trees and spread branches and pine needles all over the snow at upper elevations. No powder and challenging inconsistent snow conditions, sastsrugi, wind board, rime crust, and deep very stiff wind drifts.