Quick report
- Collapsing
- isolated
Day began 10am at Timberline cool and cloudy, but clear-ish and dry. Snow-redistributing moderate westerly winds and light snow/whiteout began fairly soon though, worsened and stayed that way for entirety of tour up/down Palmer until descent from Timberline to Maggies TH in Govy 3pm (Glade/Skiway is still possible w selective skiing for the last few hundred vert and very brief bootpack around the Blossom turnoff, but barely and w plenty of hazards just below (or above) the snow surface). And without a good freeze, it’s not the fastest, but w packed trail and today’s cooler conditions, minimal and efficient pushing and skate-skiing. Beyond the crust/bed surface mentioned in the avalanche section and whiteout skiing over obscured variable terrain, biggest hazard I noticed was a giant cornice (plus large icicles) overhanging the logical sheltered transition spot at top of Palmer (also in pics).
Avalanche
Barely qualifies as a slide, but on descent from Palmer explored over in the west gullies (once I hit treeline and could see again) to see if I could replicate instability observed in Southwest zone which - combined with whiteout - caused me to cancel my White River Glacier plans and felt some minor localized collapsing (more crust breakthrough than whumphing) and got a few spots to mini-slide, incl the one in the last few pics (6K’ish, east facing, tho similar mini-triggers occurred on varied aspects). None went far if at all, tho unsure if due to terrain or snow.