Avalanche

Northern Swan

FACSwan Range
View on map
Observation photo 1Observation photo 2

Weather

Cloud Cover
scattered
Wind Loading
previous
Snow Avail For Transport
none

Clear skies gave way to periods of scattered and overcast. Temps remained cold all day.

Snowpack

Went into the northern Swan to dig down to an old persistent weak layer and to check surface conditions before the arrival of another storm.

  • We experienced no signs of instability.
  • Upper elevation east and north facing terrain appeared scoured from strong east winds.
  • The 1/9 Surface Hoar layer was buried 105 cm below the surface in this location. We got no results with extended column tests and stable results with the propagation saw test.
  • In this location, we found no other persistent weak layers buried in the snowpack. 
  • The current surface consists of weak-faceted snow. This weak snow sits on a hard surface left over from north and east winds. 

 

Avalanche

Size
D1
Type
SS
Aspect
E
Trigger
N
Elevation
7100 ft

Suspect this failed on on the 2nd when winds increased the day after Noisy basin picked up an inche of water.