Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Wind Loading, Rapid Warming
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Initially these three red flags were thought about at start of tour. Recent avalanches were all wet loose observed on south face of superior on drive up.</p>
Travelling around it seemed wind slabs were unreactive. Not really the case...see avalanche ob. Quick handpits on north and northeast showed new snow to be bonded well to old snow. Activity was mostly limited to small point releases initiating out of rocky areas. One small point release triggered a small slab (see attached photo).
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>Wet avalanches normally wouldn't be a big problem with low snow amounts but it seems there was possibly some faceting on top of the melt freeze crust that are allowing wet avalanches to run longer and wet loose avalanches are able to trigger slab on this snowpack setup.</p> <p>Isolated pockets of hard wind slab on upper elevation aspects lee to the northwest and west.</p>
New snow was dense and contained graupel. New snow amounts ranged from 3-6". Areas of wind slab were up to 10" deep. Strong winds yesterday created some different loading patterns with areas of Days headwall crossloaded from east to west. Northerly and westerly start zones were scoured to old tracks in places. Once down off the ridge snow was less wind affected.