Castle Lake - Left Peak

The snowpack is meager at Castle Lake as a result of recent warm temperatures and rain (which began New Year's Eve). Just over two feet of snow covers the ground at 6,000 feet. The ingredients for wet loose avalanches were present, but steeper terrain and possibly more water in the snowpack would have been required for initiation. Shallowly buried and visible obstacles abound. The Castle Lake outlet is running freely and requires careful navigation to reach the summer route to Heart Lake.

Snow surfaces were wet on every aspect observed today. Rollerballs and a larger pinwheel were easily initiated, but did not continue far downslope. Steeper terrain near or above 40 degrees and possibly more water in the snowpack would have been required to initiate a wet loose. In two pit locations - southeast at 6,100 feet and north at 6,200 feet - the snowpack was generally right-side-up with softer snow in the upper snowpack becoming increasingly harder with depth. The entire snowpack was wet or moist in both pits, apart from a small amount of drier snow at the very base of the snowpack on the north aspect. Snow depths were 28 inches (70cm) on the southeast aspect and 31 inches (80cm) on the north aspect. No avalanches were observed in the Castle Lake Basin, though visibility was poor.