Quick report
- Aspect
- Northwest
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 3078 m
- Slope Angle
- 32°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Dissappointed to see no recent natural avalanche activity.</p>
Looking at the upper layers in the snow pack. This was in a non-wind loaded area, no hard slab on top. Weakest layer of concern was small facets about an inch above the dirt layer from Feb 18th. There was also a weak layer within the newer snow, that I'd expect to strengthen.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Pencil hard wind slabs, haven't seen many of these this winter. Widespread along ridge lines, scattered off ridge lines in open areas. An entirely different beast than the soft slabs we've mostly had this winter. They seem supportable, yet tend to break above you and often not on the first person. They also often take longer to stabilize.</p> <p>Photo below - pencil hardness (not one finger hardness)</p> <p>Photo below a windward slope, scoured down to the Feb 18th dirt layer. A measure of how much snow was eroded and transported. 30 to 40" at the upper elevations.</p> <p>The snow pack has multiple weak layers, which vary by aspect and elevation. In deeper snowpack areas, it's more likely to trigger one of the upper weak layers. In shallower snowpack areas, slides were breaking near the ground the past few days.</p> <p>Example of spatial variability and how the snow pack can change rapidly over very short distances.</p>
Wind slabs, hard wind slabs. Though there is good, dense powder on wind sheltered, untracked slopes.