Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
- Collapsing
- specific
No transportable snow was observed in the morning below 4,700’ despite new snow and strong winds. Through the day, snowfall rates decreased and shifted to lighter snow, and active wind loading became visible on leeward slopes. We skied in Swift Creek. Wind-sheltered terrain held dense snow and made for challenging skiing. Windward aspects, wind-affected later in the day, offered the best riding on supportable surfaces. Return snow on Cheap Date was similarly dense in wind-protected areas. On a small, wind-protected, unsupported 40° slope at Cheap Date, I triggered a 1×1 m soft slab that released and slid. Failure occurred at the interface between the 1/3 morning crust and overnight snow that accumulated into 1/4. A wind-loaded lip at 4,200’ was also easily triggered. The lip released, but the steep, well-supported feature below did not propagate despite a clear collapse felt underfoot. Failure was at the interface between the same-day wind slab and dense overnight snow.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2
- Aspect
- N
- Elevation
- 4600 ft