Heather Canyon

Riding conditions have improved immensely with 15-20  inches of low-density new snow. This new snow was struggling to bond to the old snow surface (2/14) thanks to a mix of slick crusts on solar slopes/lower elevations and a slightly weaker layer of preserved stellars on other aspects.  

Generally, I found 35-40 cm of new, low-density new snow sitting over the 2/14 new old snow interface. This new snow sits on a variety of surfaces across the terrain. On more solar aspects you may find a crust, but on more shady slopes I was finding it sitting on a mix of preserved stellars and other forms, which produced propagating test results and the likely culprit of several explosive-triggered avalanches.  I suspect this layer should heal up quickly, but we'll want to track it over time/space.

In the places I dug (below 6500 ft), I found the upper snowpack bonding well to the Early February Crust (EFC). The EFC acts as a prominent marker in the upper snowpack. I typically found this layer ranging from 2-3 ft below the snow surface. 

I didn't have to look far to see recent avalanche activity. In upper Heather Canyon, I observed several large explosive-triggered avalanches in wind-drifted terrain on E/NE aspects between 6500-7500 ft. I also observed a faint crown of a D2.5 on the Newton Clark Headwall at roughly 8500 ft. Poor visibility didn't allow me to get a great photo of this one, but we think it was likely triggered by the morning artillery round. 

In more sheltered areas below treeline, I observed several crowns, some natural and some human-triggered. Most of these slabs occurred on steep breakovers and unsupported features. These soft slabs were shallow (<1 ft) and likely failed within the new snow or on a recent melt-freeze crust.