Quick report
- Collapsing
- isolated
The weather was in the upper 30s at 9a at the trailhead, but warmed to the mid 40s by the time we returned six hours later. The sky was cloudless except a lenticular over the summit of Tahoma. Areas in the sun had a 2-3 inch crust with loose powder below extending to the ground. Under the trees, the snow had the consistency of mashed potatoes with too much milk. Where the trail breaks out of the trees below Van Trump Park we measured 130cm of snow. We saw isolated sections of collapse along the route to Van Trump Park. An area about three feet in diameter would collapse beneath our snowshoes.
Avalanche
We observed two types of avalanches that had occurred in previous days. At multiple locations along the Van Trump Falls trail on both east and west aspects we saw debris from loose wet slides that extended down to the ground. These appeared to be point release slides mostly below cliffs. The largest was on a NE aspect climber's right of Comet Falls. Higher on the mountain above Van Trump Park there was a crown on an ENE aspect.