Quick report
- Aspect
- North
- Red Flags
- Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2652 m
- Slope Angle
- 30°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Did not venture into terrain steeper than about 30 degrees due to obviously dangerous avalanche conditions.</p>
In areas where wind slabs are forming the snow structure is poor. Tests show full propagation failures of fresh wind slabs on the very week faceted snow from around Thanksgiving.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>In some exposed terrain, drifting has formed stiffer slabs out of the fresh snow on top of very weak faceted snow. </p> <p>The fresh snow is powdery and soft and not really sticking together as a slab yet in many areas. This could change fairly rapidly as the fresh snow is drifted, compacts, and becomes more of a slab. Most slopes are plagued by very weak preexisting faceted snow, and the formation of a slab layer means avalanches will become more likely.</p>
Somewhat inverted and much deeper new snow than expected. We encountered difficult uphill travel conditions and fairly deep powder riding downhill.