St Mary Valley

Quick report

-Ski tour up to a high point at 7000'. -12" of recent snow at 4500', increasing to 14-16" above 6000'. -We mostly avoided wind loaded terrain but still found some 1-2' thick wind slabs which were unreactive. -Where we could find old snow under the powder and wind slab, it consisted of a pencil or knife-hard melt freeze crust several inches thick. -Sunny slopes were spitting out a few rollerballs and D1 point releases, but these were few and far between. -Widespread surface hoar growth down in the shaded valley bottoms. -The storm snow from last week was faceting due to the recent cold temps. -One slab avalanche crown observed. Limited details under the avalanche tab.

Avalanche

Size

D2

Aspect

E

Trigger

N

Elevation

8600 ft

A few D1 point releases on sunny slopes and one, D2 slab on a steep face up in the alpine.