Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
We observed ~ 10 D1 storm slab avalanches on N terrain just below the ridgeline between Ghoulie and Spruce Park. We avoided slopes above 30', but we did interact and share notes with several groups who had ventured onto steeper slopes. We did hear a report from a group that observed avalanche debris in a recently dug snowpit on a steep N facing slope above the Beaver Pond. The reporting party speculated that the slide was triggered by a (snowsuit digging?) human. Cracking was limited to very specific steep features near an old road cut on N terrain at aprox 5,600 ft. 1 crack spread out to 4-5 feet. We were unable to replicate this crack despite multiple attempts... We observed no whoomphing.
Snowpack
We observed: - Low angle Solar aspect slopes: newly formed sun crust from 2/21. That crust was breakable. -Low angle N slopes: no signs of instability beyond some very isolated cracking. - N slopes near ridgelines: many recent storm slab avalanches. - Skook Chutes: Observed small point releases by early afternoon. None spread much, and all seemed rather small in size. All slopes: Newly formed surface hoar was observed on every aspect/ elevation we traveled, and was still intact in the late afternoon (4:00pm), even on solar aspects. We dug several handpits and engaged in other non formal snowpack assessment activities throughout the day. The poor structure with January crust/ surface hoar and deeper curried deep layers is not surprising- FAC has done well to spread the word...
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Type
- SS
- Aspect
- N
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 6200 ft
We observed ~ 10 D1 storm slab avalanches on N terrain just below the ridgeline between Ghoulie and Spruce Park.