Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Cracking, Rapid Warming
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Lots of obvious red flags today. Lots of avalanches observed and triggered. Touchy and sensitive was the theme. Observed ~12" storm slab avalanches from the morning that seemed to be running on a density change ranging from size 1~2. Saw some connected avalanches on right side of west bowl silver fork, couple hundred feet wide but the slab seemed to extend only about a hundred feet down the slope and not running to far. Two pockets in two dogs in days fork, one off the ridge, the other right next to it but mid slope. Large avalanche in Main Days with some very sensitive hang fire that was triggered. Some of these avalanches were taking out the enitre new snow. Most sensitive right along the ridge lines where the light winds had conncected the snow into a soft wind slab. Once you got down a little the snow would just sluff out on steeper slopes, but great unconsoidated powder. Instabilities on the south seemed to have settled out by time of exit at 17:00.</p>
Pictures:
1) 12" storm slab from am on south
2) another 12" storm slab on south
3) Two Dogs avalanches, one off ridge line to the left, one mid slope center of picture (natural? talked to skier who put first tracks in and said avalanche was there on his arrival)
4) Hang fire avalanche in Main Days
If the sun comes out there tomorrow I would expect to see widespread loose wet avalanches on sunny side of the compass. Timing and aspect can help to avoid this if it does become a problem.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The light winds had slabbed up the snow close to ridge lines in a lot of places and were producing up to about size 2 avalanches that were sensitive, fast moving and fairly connected pieces of snow. Fine line between the storm slab problem today and the wind slabs, but both were number one concern. Two distinct slab avalanches happening on density change (storm slab ~12"), and the more connected full new snow avalanches (soft wind slabs ~16-20"). Unless the winds pick up much over night I would think this would start to settle out, and the storm slab had seemed to settle by days end.</p> <p>Sluff''s were manageable today but could entrain quite a bit of snow in the right terrain and become problematic. Today they didn't seem to fan out much.</p>
Quite a bit of new snow today, seemed right around 20" in most locations. Snow closer to the ridges had a little more wind slabby feel to it with lower more protected snow pretty unconsolidated and great skiing!! Approaching LCC road the south had picked up some heat and had a zipper on descent at 17:00.