Quick report
- Cracking
- Observed
- Collapsing
- Observed
We rode from Snug Harbor towards Lost Lake. We briefly started riding up Boulder Creek, but turned around because there was just too much overhead hazard for the given setup, and the risk of triggering a large avalanche from below was too high. We ended up riding in the Sherwood trees then headed towards Primrose Creek. We found consistent signs that the 2/14 surface hoar layer was reactive in the area (See snowpack section for details).
Snow quality was high, and we had a great time riding mellow terrain.
We got collapsing and shooting cracks at around 2000'. These were propagating up to around 100'. We stopped and dug a pit right next to one of the collapses and found the 2/14 layer to be the culprit. It was about a foot deep in this case, but was closer to 3' deep in other places.Weather
- Cloud Cover
- few
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- 1500'
- Recent Snowfall
- 12"
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
Mostly sunny, calm winds, and cool temps. Steep southerlies were getting warm through the day but most snow was staying cool and dry.
Snowpack
We dug several pits and found the 2/14 buried surface hoar layer to be upright in most locations. This was anywhere from 1 to 3' deep on average. In one spot we dug a pit and didn't see the layer, then moved over about 100 yards and found it large and upright, 3' deep. The layer was reactive in stability tests (ECTP15), and failing with a lot of energy, poping into the pit. This layer was also responsible for multiple collapses and shooting cracks. All of these signs are screaming at us that this is a dangerous setup.
Avalanche
Widespread natural activity from the most recent storm, but most debris had a little bit of snow on top of it.