Quick report
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>We still have many red flags present in our mountains. The ones that are screaming at us are the constant collapsing and cracking due to the large load that the snowpack has received recently. Today our group experienced several collapses and plenty of shooting crack on W - N aspects. The thing about them was that they were very large and not always triggered by the person breaking trail. In some cases we were skinning on an established skin track and would experience a collapse. On a W aspect at 8800' after we had already dug a pit and disturbed the slope we felt a large settlement and heard the audible whumph. This pit had results of ECTP17 SC down 70cm on faceted grains. Another collapse that resulted in several hundred feet of shooting cracks yielded the ECTPV video linked below. This was NW at 9600'. Still quite unstable out there, keep patient though and good things may come! </p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The above statements about shooting cracks and collapsing throughout the day say it all. what I was discouraged to see was how reactive the faceted layer was on the W aspect at a mid elevation. Still not healing!</p>
A nice refresh of a storm over night left stellar riding conditions. New snow was 6-8' deep depending on elevation and exposure to the wind. It was a 5 star day of skiing and riding today.