Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading
Nice walk around the boundary, getting blasted by wind, graupel, and blowing snow in the alpine. While the next storm is just revving up, already feels a bit spooky up high, and while the leeward slopes were fairly supportable and not quite skiing upside down, wind affected snow tainted the skiing ridge to parking lot - where there wasn't wind affected snow, solar had done its damage. Welcome the new storm for a refresh, but tread lightly and carefully. Noted some sections of skintrack tickling the edge of overhanging cornice - give these an extra wide berth.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Sensitive zones that were productive on Sunday (re: petticoat) being reloaded, and widespread soft slab/hard slab development underway throughout the zone. Various near-surface weak layers noted throughout the tour - with this evening's wind and tonight/tomorrow's new snow, definitely concerned about energetic slab hiding under lower density powder if the winds die down before it's all over.</p>
Mixed bag of everything, but the bottom line is lots of wind affected snow, forming slabs above either a 2-3cm solar crust or sitting on top of lower density new snow and/or graupel. Most notably, widespread areas of wind affected snow was found down in typically sheltered areas below Twin Lakes pass at 9400'. Small test slope here proved productive with a soft slab breaking ~30 cm deep on unconsolidated new snow.
Ascending Tuscarora from Catherine's, noted a recent rime crust, and walking the ridgeline above Wolverine Cirque, the windward (southerly) slopes were scoured down to a solar crust and some photogenic sastrugi - pretty, but not great skiing. Cornices are growing quite large for the first time this season, and are becoming overhung onto the North and East sides of the ridge in this area.