Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Rapid Warming, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Poor snowpack structure evidenced on north/northeasterlies by recent avalanches as well as evidence of firmer snow avove old facets in a hand pit at the Days Fork ridgeline. Rapid solar warming was also affecting surface snow.</p>
Solar warming just starting on Flagstaff Face.
4F snow, 1F snow, facets, and the ground in a handpit on the ridge above Days Fork.
Snowpack
New snow amount was approximately 60cm in most places, with a shallower locations along ridges and a bit more in gullies. Despite the shallow coverage, there was some great skiing to be had with care picking one's lines and not pushing too hard into the turns to avoid rocks below. New snow came in right side up, with higher density snow on the ground and progressively lower density toward the snow surface on southerly aspects. Did not venture far into anything on the north half of the compass but was surprised to see as little natural activity as we did when we reached the ridgeline. Upper zones of Days Fork had no visible avalanche activity from our vantage. NE Face of Superior ran into Cardiff Bowl. The east side of Hellgate also had a slide around 9900ft. Poking around just at the ridge above Days revealed approx. 50cm total snow with 10cm of 4F on top of 10 cm of 1F with 25+cm or so of facets at the ground. Despite all the wind, cornices were few and small. Solar influence was already affecting southerly slopes by 0930 with minor natural rollerballs on Flagstaff Face. We triggered a minor wet release on a shallow convex rollover dropping toward Flagstaff Gully around 1015. See separate avalanche reports for all three avalanches noted here.