Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Winds were transporting snow in exposed areas but not where we were. It's sublte to notice the collapsing, but as were were riding, we'd see a small sapling or tree branch shake a little bit and drop it's snow as we collapsed the weak layer on many slopes.</p>
We commented that the difference between life/death or triggering an avalanche or not is just a matter of degrees. Any slope steeper than 30 degrees would produce an avalanche and we didn't dare touch any of them. We saw the following slides:
1) This huge naturally triggered avalanche
2) This small naturally triggered avalanche
3) Many very small avalanches we triggered near steep slopes along creeks/gullies
Below is a photo of the setup we're dealing with. On any northerly facing slope and ones that kept soft snow during the mid-winter drought, has a layer of VERY weak facets. This layer is consistently producing very poor stability test results (extended column tests that break with minimal force and propagate across the entire column).
There's simply a TON of new snow and conditions are dangerous. We didn't go near any deeper gully or any big steep slope. Everything we saw today mirrored what I found yesterday except that there's a lot more snow making conditions more dangerous.
I worry about this weekend - conditions won't be as sensitive and the riding will be 5 star; HOWEVER, I think it will remain dangerous and very easy to trigger avalanches.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The PWL of facets formed during the Jan/Feb dry period are overloaded and unstable now. </p>
At least 12 inches of new snow overnight. Over the head powder riding (photo below) when combined with nearly a foot of snow from the previous storm.