Quick report
- Cracking
- widespread
- Collapsing
- widespread
Backed off objective, and turned around at the narrow. Constant collapsing while breaking trail above the Cement Creek Ranch. Worried we could remote trigger an avalanche from below. We found a fresh 3+ foot deep slab resting on a very weak base of Depth Hoar grains.
Weather
S1 most of the day. No noticeable wind in the valley bottom.
Snowpack
The recent storm snow settled into a 3+ foot soft slab over a very weak base. Collapsing was continuous under the weight of a snowmobile. I could watch the snowpack in front of me drop every 20 or 30 feet as I broke trail up the valley. Extended Column Tests propagated on the first few taps from the wrist in depth hoar (ECTP2-4). We chose to avoid travel in avalanche terrain, albeit small avalanche terrain. The risk of a 3' deep slab piling onto us on the road was too great.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R3
- Type
- SS
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- E
- Trigger
- N
- Elevation
- 9600 ft
Saw a couple of avalanches that hit Cement Creek Road in the middle Cement area. One in the lower narrows, just below Cement Creek Ranch, and one mid-way through Middle Cement that just dusted the road. Most of the debris hung up in the track.