Quick report
Route: Eddies to 2200' on the usual uptrack, and down the NW face Weather: Broken/overcast skies transitioning to few clouds early afternoon Calm winds, and you can feel the sun these days when clouds part... Occasional low clouds in the AM obscuring Seattle Ridge across the valley Temps in the mid-30s down low, slightly below freezing at 2200' Snow surface: Parking lot: Dusting of dry snow over a stout crust 1000-1500': 2" of soft snow, increasing to 8" @ 1500', over a supportable crust While the surface was dry, it sat on moist recent snow over the supportable crust 1500' - 2200': 8-10" of soft dry snow on a progressively firmer snowpack; ski penetration of 2-6" The snow surface was dry on northerly/shaded areas, but moist on solar aspects Snowpack: Dug two pits at locations evaluated two weeks prior to see how the 2/14 buried surface hoar is changing... or not changing. The first, at 1350', found the BSH down 35cm, and surrounded by moist snow including a stout melt freeze layer above it. The BSH layer showed signs of melting on grain edges, but grains were still very large (20-30mm) and upright. A propagating ECT at 16 taps and a PST that failed at less than half of the cut length indicated that this layer still has some fracture potential in it, despite it being surrounded by moist snow for several weeks... though there are less start zones at this elevation on Turnagain Pass compared to higher up. See structure and results below. The second pit was dug at 2000' on a NW aspect at the location where the scariest ECT results were observed two weeks prior on 2/22 - a propagating ECT at 13 taps when the 2/14 BSH was buried by 30cm of snow (see my 2/22 ob for full details). Today, the 2/14 BSH is now down 50cm at this location, but it is still upright and very visible in the pit wall. While today's ECT failed with propagation at 27 taps, two PSTs performed today failed well below half of the cut length, with propagation of that failure to the end of the block. Despite the slope angle only being 22 degrees, the block slid with momentum downslope when failure occurred. Like two weeks ago, it appears that results of ECTs depend on where you dig, making it hard to conclude much from one pit. Another party reported an ECTN result at 27 taps near the 2000' pit location, where the 2/14 BSH was buried 60cm deep.
Avalanche
Wide propagating crown observed far down the valley, midslope on the NE aspect Seattle Creek Headwall Small part of a glide appears to have released recently across from Shark's Fin on Seattle Ridge Small recent cornice fall on the ridgeline over Eddie's northern bowl Small wet loose/rollerball activity on steep solar aspects of Seattle Ridge (See photos below of each) LOTS of glides opening on Seattle Ridge, and the steep southerly aspect of Sharks Fin. Several shallow crowns on SW aspect of Wolverine; these appeared slightly older, and similar in character to slabs in the Gianotti 3/6 observation