Avalanche

Mission Ridge

Josh HirshbergEast Slopes Central
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Observation photo 1Observation photo 2Observation photo 3Observation photo 4

Weather

Cloud Cover
broken
Wind Loading
light

Cool, light SW wind w moderate gusts, periods of light snow. HN24 ~2cm

Snowpack

Above 5,500ft, I found an average of 15cm of recent snow over the early February crust, which was generally well-bonded in wind-sheltered terrain. It's worth noting that the crust was buried sometime between the night of January 30th and the 31st on the upper mountain, roughly above 6,000ft. On the the ridge of Wenatchee Mtn, I found intermittent 2cm, P+ hard rime crust on the surface. It appears that there was quite a bit of warm moist air and precip on 2/11.

 

Profile: 6525ft, flat. Wenatche Mtn ridge, near Lemolo. Just outside of the ski area bounday. HS: 116cm, Boot Pen 15cm.

Notable: 6mm facets, just above the early Feb crust. Believe this was a melt-layer re-crystalization

116-102cm: F hard, DF, dry to moist, recent HST

102-101cm: F- hard, FC (1.0-6.0mm), dry, mix of small and large facets (see photo)

101-77cm: P+ hard, MFcr, dry, early Feb crust

77-54cm: P+-P- hard, MF, dry

54-40cm: 1F+, dry

40-20cm: 1F+, dry

20-0cm: 1F, dry, old Dec FC

Avalanche

Triggered a D1 cornice and a very small slab in wind-drifted snow at the top of the ridge of the Bathtub run. NNE, 6,580ft. The pocket was up to 40cm deep, it slid downslope 20ft, but didn't entrain other snow. The cornice was reactive and was easily triggered and it propagated 2-3ft from my skis.