Quick report
- Collapsing
- specific
No formal test pits done. Hand pits done through out tour. All Hand pits concluded same results. 5-6 inches soft powder on top of 1-2mm non-supportable crust on facetted snow down to a 5mm knife hard crust just above the ground. Everything seemed well bonded, and I was unable to get anything to slide/sheer. I did get collapsing when traveling over debris pile from storm avis. At first, I was a bit spooked but realized these were isolated to debris only and couldn't get same results elsewhere. As my tour took me over several avi paths I stayed high to manage risks. We need more snow to cover rocks/boulders and a touch of wind to fill in the Boulder gardens as these areas could be very difficult to travel in if needed. My ski line topped out at 4400 elevation and descended Northeast to about 3600. I skied knee deep powder with a few Sharks . Snow was cold and dry... should have added more wax.
Avalanche
SSE facing slopes with exposure to sun and slope angles estimated over 45* had recent sign of mid storm avalanches with crown depths around 5 inches. There appeared to be a melt freeze crust 1-2mm that the avi ran on. Did not step down to additional layers