Quick report
- Aspect
- South
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2804 m
- Slope Angle
- 31°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Traveled up Butler Basin to the Wilson shoulder today with the intent of looking at low and mid elevation structure as this next weather event comes in. Overall the rain on the front end of this week's Southwest flow affected much of the snowpack below 8000' and layers are damp throughout. Higher up, however, both NW and Southerly aspects showed a mix of layering with crusts, graupel and small-grained facets forming possible failure planes. Pits throughout the drainage showed a few stubborn results on both of the last significant storm interfaces as well as the late Nov. facets. </p>
South facing pit below Wilson Peak. Failure at 57cm was later (27 taps) but had more snap to it. Surprising amount of snow for the aspect, elevation, and location. Appears to be a healing snowpack-although PWL was hard to find the consensus was that there were some faceted grains amongst the clustered slush 57cm from the ground.
Snowpit 7300' in Butler Gully
SW aspect above the access trail
Slope angle was 45 degrees.
Failure after ECTX @43cm off the ground under the dirt layer. Facets going to rounds. This snowpack was affected by rain.
Photo below of failure 43cm off ground after ECTX
We also looked at the avalanche in Scary Gully from 12.18.2022 and updated that observation with a crown profile.
This avalanche failed around the ice layer 28cm from the ground.
Black Crystal card denotes ice layer which was the bed surface of this avalanche.
Snowpack
Surface conditions are mostly settled powder on top of rain crust at low elevations and a smooth, high-density frontal snow layer up higher. South-southeast through Southwest aspects got enough solar radiation yesterday to develop a breakable zipper crust. Ridgetops will see continued loading through this event.
Loading on Wilson Ridgetop