Falls Lake/Zoa Peak

Variable conditions out there! Our party travelled up the end of the Falls Lake Valley on March 5th to observe conditions. Quick pit tests showed no results at roughly 1400m. Multiple N facing couloirs and steep slopes had slid, mostly size 1 or sluff, and the size 3 on Thar N couloir from Feb 28th. On March 6th we travelled up Zoa Peak and found some good turns at treeline on some heavy pow. It snowed lightly overnight and intermittently over the day. Below treeline was fairly slushy and sticky. Temps were above zero and rising throughout the day resulting in some wetter and heavier snow, rain below 1500m in the afternoon. We saw a size 1.5 wet loose avalanche from the last few days around 1780m on a N/NE aspect, and observed pinwheeling in various locations.

March 6: light winds with moderate gusts throughout the day. The sun peaked out in the late morning and early afternoon. Mix of overcast and broken cloud with light snow (3-5cm overnight). Rain was falling below 1500m at 1500hrs.

March 6th we dug 3 seperate pits and did CT’s and ECT’s around the top of Zoa Peak with no results or propagation. The upper snowpack is fairly consolidated, and broke off as a big block over the January crust/facet layer roughly 100cm down after a shovel shear.