Quick report
- Collapsing
- isolated
We heard several loud collapses in untouched snow. The 1/31 facets were easy to spot with pole pokes and had a weaker structure compared to what I’ve seen at Galena Pass and the East Fork Baker huts. We stayed on broad ridgelines nearing 33° and avoided any bowl-shaped features or steep slopes in avalanche terrain. I have no trust in that facet layer, especially given the recent remote triggers on Sun Peak, where nearby ski tracks were present on the same aspects with the similar characteristics (slope angle and shape) as the slope that released. The current moderate rating feels particularly dangerous—this is the type of snowpack where people may not receive obvious feedback (like whumpfing, collapses, or shooting cracks) before venturing into avalanche terrain. The first person might not trigger a slide, but it might take the 3rd, 4th or 9th person to find that shallow, weak spot to get it to pop. We are in a "scary moderate" right now and I'm treating it with a healthy dose of respect. We had several large collapses in untraveled snow this season. Some were in lower elevation up to middle elevations in non wind-loaded terrain.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
Light ridgetop winds from the NW, some drifting snow at times.
Snowpack
I didn’t dig any formal pits today since we mostly stayed out of avalanche terrain. However, a hand pit at the bottom of one of our runs revealed 64 cm of snow over the 1/31 interface. The setup resembled the crown profile of Sun Peak’s NE remote trigger. The weak layer consisted of a 3-4 cm thick facet layer with ~2-3 mm facets, topped by a thin crust