Storm Slabs in Corbin

southrockies , Thursday 19th December, 2024 5:15PM

Today in the Barnes Lake area with clear skies, we saw evidence of a widespread avalanche cycle that had occurred during the recent storm. There were numerous large (size 2 - 2.5) slab avalanches with crown depths of 30 to 40 cm which coordinates with the storm snow depth. This new storm snow was a good test for the deeper layer of surface hoar/ melt-freeze crust that was buried Dec 6th and can be found down roughly 50 to 60 cm. Open alpine and treeline features were wind-affected while the storm snow in sheltered terrain remains soft. Our test results: The compression test result was an easy, sudden planar result (CTE 4 (SP) Down 25 cm, this indicates that the storm snow needs time to settle and bond to the previous surface. Our extended column test result (ECTN25) indicated no propagation potential. HS 110 cm - 25 cm HST becoming wind-affected in open alpine and treeline terrain. Dec 6 MFcr/SH is down 50 to 60 cm and is unreactive. There was a melt-freeze crust up to 1700 m Staging area to just below Barnes meadow.