Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Some loose snow sluffing was noted on steep slopes on North and East aspect. Only consequential in committing exposed terrain. Otherwise, excellent stability.</p>
No wind slab noted in any of our terrain today from Sinner's Pass to Baruska. (9400-9900). It was good to dig on a few aspects (North and West) and get a look at overall structure. The West face of Miller Hill sported 3cm of super fluff on top of crusted heavy snow from the previous 24 hours. Beneath that were a few crust/facet sandwiches sitting atop knife hard slab to the ground. The North facing Pagan Basin shoulder held 25cm of excellent new snow atop a settled 15cm of buried near surface facets on top of pencil hard slab to the ground. If we get a significant snowfall in the next week or so, those buried NSF could act as a weak layer. Otherwise, our CT and ECT test produced no fracture initiation or propagation.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Only problematic on steep slopes (>40 degress) with smooth running surfaces beneath the new 8-10" of snow.</p>
The weekend storm brought much needed relief to our powder starved souls. The northerly slopes held great blower powder on top of a supportable base of settled near surface facets in sheltered locations. Some sizable buried graupel pools were noted under cliff bands and low angle slopes in certain locations. We had our sights on skiing a few different aspects, but the solar input on E, S, W exposures on Saturday afternoon was enough to ruin the new snow in our drainages. Bummer.