Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
Out to check on the atmospheric river and look for buried week layers:
- New Snow!
- Low-elevation: 4 inches moist snow on the ground turned to slush on exit.
- Mid-elevation: 6 inches of moist snow becoming dry above 6000 feet.
- Upper-elevation: Average 8 -10 inches dry snow.
- Wind!
- Cornice are growing and sensitive to the weight of a skier.
- I triggered a small soft slab avalanche by punting a cornice down a wind loaded (NE) slope at upper elevation.
- I produced shooting cracks in wind drifted snow along an upper elevation ridge.
- Weak Layers!
- Found buried surface hoar ~3 feet deep on a wind-loaded (NE) slope at upper elevation, it did not propagate in my pit tests.
- I did not find burided surface hoard in several hand pits on Southerly slopes.
The descent was sticky and I opted to boot down from 5000'
Found sensitive cornice and produced shooting cracks in wind-drifted snow along wind exposed ridge above 6800 feet.Weather
- Air Temp
- 32
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- 5000
- Recent Snowfall
- 15
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Rain line climbed from 4000 feet to 5000 feet. Snow above with periods of S1 and light to moderate wind.
Snowpack
Test Pit at 6800' NE aspect , wind-loaded and convex slope:
- HS = 150 cm
- ECTP24 down 50 cm on decomposing fragments,
- Buried surface hoar down 90 cm propagated with extra force following ECT
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R2
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- AC
- Elevation
- 6800 ft
Intentionally triggered a small soft slab avalanche in wind-drifted snow on a NE aspect at 6800 feet.