Quick report
Route: Eddies to 2200' Signs of Instability: Recent cornice failure over steep SW aspect of Wolverine Small loose snow avalanches on steep solar aspect of Sharks Fin Glide cracks continue to open on Seattle Ridge, Shark's Fin, and some potential cracks on Eddies headwall; see photos below! All other avalanche activity was covered in Gianotti's 3/12 Eddies ob... including the very large avalanche on Eddies west face last weekend. Weather: Calm winds. Just above freezing at the road, just below freezing at our high point. Broken skies mainly featuring thin clouds through late afternoon, generally letting the sun through. Snow Surface (as of 4:30 PM): 400' - 2" of moist, dense snow over a stout crust at the parking lot (The trail is still sporty, but improved a little with a week of snow.) 1000 - 1500' - 6-8" of dry soft snow over 1" of moist dense snow, sitting on a stout melt freeze crust 1500 - 2200' - 8-10" of dry soft snow from the past week, right side up, over a firm dry base Ski penetration of 4-6" above 1000', with the limited exception of 1-2" where the standard uptrack is often scoured above 2000' Small surface hoar and near surface facets observed from 1500 - 2200'. Small solar facing features felt crusty and/or moist by midday, but these are few and far between on the standard Eddies uptrack. Overall, dry surface snow except at the parking lot! Snowpack: Dug one pit at the same location of previous pits 1 week and 3 weeks ago, to evaluate the 2/14 buried surface hoar, and to look for any other buried surface hoar layers in the snow that has fallen since 2/14. While an ECT did not fail at 30 standard taps, it did on the first tap of overdrive with propagation, with the same sudden collapse fracture character as last week in a CT. The layer is still upright and intact at this somewhat wind protected location near treeline. (Two PSTs were attempted but the results were discarded with obvious ski tracks through the weak layer... sad.) Unremarkable failures occurred in CT and ECTs above this 2/14 layer, and close examination of two interfaces revealed partly decomposed precip particles, and no other buried surface hoar since 2/14. See structure/pit photo below.