Quick report
Today objective was to assess surface conditions on the south side of Mount Shasta. A surface crust has developed on most aspects that see direct sunlight. It took most of the morning to begin softening the surface snow. In the shade, soft snow still exists. This soft snow is still surprising cold, dry, and loose, easily sloughing on very steep slopes. The south side of Mount Shasta has seen a TON of snowmobile traffic. It will take another storm to reset many areas.
The only observed instability was the wet loose avalanches off of Casaval Ridge. These avalanches are a great indicator that the snowpack has begun to destabilize from warming.Weather
- Air Temp
- 33
- Cloud Cover
- clear
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- N/A
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Warm temperatures and clear skies. Wind was calm with no noticeable direction. Up high on Mount Shasta, WNW wind could be seen transporting snow onto leeward slopes.
Avalanche
Two wet loose avalanches were seen off of Casaval Ridge, around 9,000 feet. Both were D1, and ran a couple hundred feet.