Upper Blue Lake

Upon leaving the Hope Valley sno-park, it was immediately obvious that there was significant recent and current wind transport occuring. Wind exposed features had large plumes of blowing snow and snow surfaces had wind blown textures. We saw two very recent wind slab avalanches (~2 hours), and one slightly older (~8 hours). Wind loaded test slopes produced minor cracking. In the afternoon, sunny slopes were getting wet and dense on the surface. A broken a-arm shifted our focus from weather, snowpack, and avalanche obs to making a successful a self evac.

Cold, low density new snow on the surface, with significant wind loading