Quick report
- Aspect
- Northwest
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2896 m
- Slope Angle
- 20°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Poor snow structure was the biggest red flag where we traveled. </p>
The gate is now down on SR35 but the road is snowpacked and accessible by 4WD or snow machine. Mid and lower elevation snowpack is still very thin. Upper elevation terrain depths averaged about 2.5 feet of total snow.
I feel there is a considerable danger on slopes steeper than 30° on the north half of the compass as well as on east aspects. My risk tolerance is low with this kind of setup, so I'm going to play it safe and continue to be aware of slope angles and keep them below 30°. While I think the snowpack has adjusted slightly to the new water weight, all signs point to a weak snowpack just waiting for a trigger. I'll also be keeping my eye on the old snow/new snow interface with future storms.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The basal facets continue to be the main concern right now. We were still getting plenty of cracking and collapsing of the snow pack as we walked around and ECT tests reflected failure with medium effort and a propensity to propagate a fracture across the column. </p>
Upper elevation exposed terrain was wind affected, otherwise, creamy, supportable snow (on skis or a board) were the conditions on terrain facing the north halp of the compass.