Quick report
Great skiing off of Mt. Washington today! Approached via the north ridge, and noted moderate winds predominantly from the east which blew snow up and over the ridge. Despite this, didn't find much evidence of wind slab growth on a W aspect in a pit (see notes & picture below) or beneath our skis, though I did note the upper ~4 cm of the snowpack hardened to somewhere in the 4F/1F ballpark closer to the center of the slope we skied beneath our dig site. E aspects were not terribly wind scoured and skied nicely as well. Spotted what looked to be a fresh crown line on a N aspect (see avy observation). Dug a pit on a W aspect at ~6900 ft (a bit below the ridgeline) and found a right side up snowpack. ECTN11 at the F/4F interface ~10 cm down, followed by ECTN21 at the 4F/1F interface ~40 cm down. Found a very stout crust 8-10 cm thick ~65 cm beneath the snow surface. Snow depths in the area we dug were in the 100-140cm range. Observed small crown line on a northern aspect, hard to judge its height from our distance (see photos). Snow was actively loading this slope while we skied.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Mid 20s
- Cloud Cover
- broken
Moderate winds with some strong gusts, which ultimately seemed to back off later in the day.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1.5
- Aspect
- N
- Elevation
- 7200 ft
Noted what seemed like a relatively recent crown line on a N aspect right below a ridgeline that was actively being wind loaded. Given remoteness, lack of skier tracks, location, size, and observed/recent conditions, I suspect this was a naturally triggered windslab in the last day or two, but can't be certain. Seems like it may have stepped down in one isolated spot, but tough to say.