Two Ocean Mountain

Toured to the top of Two Ocean to assess stability after the recent storm cycle. On the drive in we noticed several small but deep avalanches that occurred on steep (>35 degree), N-E facing slopes. We also noticed two larger avalanches that occurred within the past day or so on the east face of Two Ocean Mountain. All of these avalanches failed on weak snow in the bottom third of the snowpack.

Overall, the snow from the most recent storm seems to be settling and behaving well. We did not observe any wind slabs, even in exposed terrain above 10,000’. Obvious signs of instability were absent for the most part with the exception of one collapse and shooting crack triggered while skinning at 10,200’. The collapse occurred on a piece of convex/unsupported terrain.

We dug on an east facing slope at 10,000’. The total height of snow here was just over 4 ft (130cm). The top 30 inches (80cm) of the snowpack is made up of well bonded snow (slab) that has fallen since 12/8. 14 inches (35cm) of that snow fell during the recent cycle (12/26-12/30). The bottom 18 inches (45cm) is comprised of weak, faceted snow and some surface hoar at the interface with the overlying slab. The facets near the ground are gaining strength but are mostly weak as this process takes time.