Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
Toured in much of the same terrain as yesterday. The avalanche hazard increased notably in the last 24 hours. Our party triggered several soft slabs 8-18 inches thick in both wind loaded areas and more sheltered terrain. All human-triggered avalanches today occurred in steep, northeast/north facing terrain and ran on a crust that was buried 5 days ago (4/12).
While mostly small, the depth and sensitivity of these slabs was somewhat surprising. I was expecting most avalanche activity to be isolated to the snow from the past day or two. Instead, avalanches involved all of the snow from the past week. Winds shifting to the NW last night with speeds strong enough to transport snow likely contributed to the uptick in instability that we observed today.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, I would expect human-triggered avalanches to remain likely in very steep northerly terrain above 9,000 feet. Temperatures are cold, making the adjustment/stabilization process slower. Coupled with the first day of sun/warming tomorrow and conditions could be heads up in places. Careful snowpack assessment and terrain selection is warranted tomorrow.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Cold! Low teens at 10,000'
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Recent Snowfall
- 2-4 inches in the past 24 hours
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Another cold and wintery day. Snow showers throughout the day mixed with a few short periods of sun. Snowfall was moderate at times. Moderate ridgetop winds at 10,000 feet for most of the day.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5 R2
- Type
- SS
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- NE
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 9600 ft
Several human-triggered soft slabs in the north facing terrain off Glory. Mostly D1, but one D2 that was either triggered early this morning or late yesterday. We also note several small natural wind slabs that released along the ridge on the east-north aspects of Little Tuckerman’s.