Quick report
Steep wind-loaded slopes that were holding old snow held the most hazard. Witnessed no other signs of instability, other than the avalanche. An avalanche occurred in a wind-loaded, ENE pocket of the bowl. Hand pits dug where old snow was present had the new snow sitting on top of a crust, topped with faceted snow. In sheltered areas, surface hoar needles were also found above the crust. Most aspects had small, shallow, discontinuous patches of old snow up to 10000ish feet. The exception, being aspects on the north half of the compass, were holding much more old snow.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 22
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- previous
- Recent Snowfall
- 7
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Clear, mostly calm day with brief moderate gusts of wind from the West
Snowpack
A quick pit was dug on a SW aspect at 10100 feet to get a rough idea of the layering present. 0-7cm decomposing precip particles (some are beginning to facet) (F) 7-9.5cm rain crust (P)(some faceting directly above the crust) 9.5-34.5cm Faceted Crystals (some DH cups toward the bottom of this layer) (4F-4F- at the bottom) 34.5-39cm Crust (P -K) Hardness of the basal layer varied significantly across the pit. Ground Hand pits dug where old snow was present showed the new snow sitting on top of a crust, topped with faceted snow. In sheltered areas, surface hoar needles were also found above the crust. Most aspects had small, shallow, discontinuous patches of old snow up to 10000ish feet. The exception was aspects on the north half of the compass. They were holding much more old snow.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R1
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- NE
- Elevation
- 10105 ft
From a distance, this appeared to be a wind slab that released at the new/old snow interface. This slide looked fairly fresh, and the crown had not reloaded at all. Neither I nor the other party had walked close to that area of the ridge, but a dog may have kicked off a small bit of cornice around that location. The slide was observed around 1 pm. The other possibility is it may have naturaled toward the end of last night's wind event. It was definitely the most loaded spot along the ridge.