Avalanche
View on mapCooney Ridge
Rob Millspaugh
Quick report
Climbed high into the Swan to look for the recent rain/snow line and refreeze:
- Found no hints of a refreeze up 8000'
- Found no new snow up to 8000' and did not notice any as high as 9000' when visibility allowed views of nearby peaks
- Noted many recent wet loose on all aspects
- Counted two large (D2-3) slab avalanches on rocky southerly slopes
- Spotted one glide crack that opened on grassy SE slope at 7600'
- The snow surface was wet on all aspects at upper elevations with ski penetration of 4-6 inches
- It was easy to initiate rollerballs and small wet loose on North aspect at 8000'
- A pit at 7600', North aspect found a moist but generally strong snowpack
avalanche events to follow
Easily initiated rollerballs and small wet loose on northerly slopes.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 7000
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Lots fog clinging to the terrain. Had a couple breaks that allowed for some views and sunshine. Best visibility at 2pm. Light graupel at 3pm transitioning to heavy snow at 330pm. Light rain below 7000'. Heavy rain at 5pm. Light gusts from the East.
Snowpack
Pit at 7600' N aspect: HS =215cm, mfcrs at 90cm and 182cm. Top 15 cm Wet. Mid pack moist. Wet and rounding basal facets in the bottom 50cm.
Avalanche
- Size
- D2.5 R2
- Type
- WS
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- SW
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 8000 ft
Lots of recent wet loose on all aspects at upper elevations. Was able to initiate wet loose by throwing snowballs on steep slopes. Noted two slab avalanches on steep and rocky south-facing slopes that may have failed during warming mid-March.