Quick report

Virginia Creek - Frog Lakes Zone

Avalanche.org observerEastside Region
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Quick report

A relatively calm day today before a major weather system impacts the Sierra and adjacent communities starting tomorrow. We toured into the Alpine near the Frog Lakes basin to see how reactive the wind-affected snow was. The wind event from earlier in the week had touched almost every surface in this area. We noticed sastrugi and large wind-sculpted formations in the snow. North-facing slopes were stripped almost bare in spots. We were able to find some shelter and dug a pit at around 11,010 ft on a northern 30-degree slope. Overall impression of stability was that it would be difficult to trigger a hard wind slab but not impossible. Isolated pocket of complex terrain on steep northern slopes seem to be the most reactive.