Teton Pass Ski Area
Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
AE-HS-R2D3-O in our upper mountain backcountry terrain. Triggered with a 4lb cast booster on a deeper pillow of snow at 8,400' in elevation on an East aspect at 38-40 degrees slope angle. Wind slab, crown 1-3', 300' wide, ran on old snow, presumed weak layer was near surface facets. No crown profile was performed. The path is called Pipeline, and the terminus of the debris ran 1500 vertical feet, inbounds 100 meters into a gulley run we call Tomahawk. Also of note was that a nearby, similar path we call Joe's Wave was thoroughly tested with multiple 2lb, 4lb, and 6lb cast boosters with no results. New wind slab on Joe's Wave was very stiff and supportable. Pencil to Knife hard. Cracking on skintrack in isolated areas. Mitigation work produced results on one of our 2 major paths with significant results that ran into the ski area boundary.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 15
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- intense
- Rain Elevation
- N/A
- Recent Snowfall
- 80cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
High winds out of the North 50-70mph, clear. Temps moderate 15-20 degrees above.
Snowpack
22-30" of new snow in the last week, followed by very cold temperatures that were as cold as -30 degrees, followed by a large wind event that stripped out, densified, and wind loaded the upper elevations above treeline. Old snow has been roughly 100cm deep with multiple slab layers, and persistant weak layers. Bed surface was firm.