Avalanche

Upper Lundy

Sean SmollenEastside Region
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Quick report

I headed up Lundy to monitor softening surfaces and to get an idea of coverage in the upper Lundy area.

Overnight, mostly clear skies gave way to a supportable melt freeze crust at the surface. I found easy travel on this crust at all elevations. I found due east aspects to already be soft by 9:30 am, and northeast aspects were just beginning to soften as I began to descend at 10:30 am. Protected, due north aspects remained firm. Many of the surfaces I travelled on have been heavily impacted by our long-lasting warm weather, and smooth, planar surfaces were hard to come by. See the video for a good summary...

Coverage appeared significantly better further west, in the upper Lundy area, on north, east, and southeast aspects near and above treeline.

I found no signs of instability. I found an isolated pocket of deep, wet snow at 9800' on a due east aspect at 9:30 am.

Weather

Air Temp
57
Cloud Cover
clear
Wind Loading
none
Recent Snowfall
0
Snow Avail For Transport
none

Shaded air temp at the truck at 7:45 was 39° F, and by my return at 11:30 am, had warmed to 57° F. Light southwest winds increased slightly through the morning.

Snowpack

The snowpack on northerly aspects at all elevations was capped by a supportable crust at the surface. 

Coverage was generally shallow, and only in previously wind-loaded pockets was there more than a meter of snow.

I was able to slide on snow from 11000' to 8100'. 

Avalanche

Size
D1
Aspect
NE
Elevation
10800 ft

1 small, wet loose in the Dore Cliffs Cirque that likely ran at least a week ago. I did not see any other recent avalanches on my tour or my drive.