Three Guardsmen - north side

Natural avalanches running the full length the the couloirs along the SSW, highway facing side of Three Guardsman. 12-15cm of storm and inter-storm interfaces running on top of what was likely a dense wind/MF crust.

Wind alternated N-S throughout the day. Moderate S in the morning, shifting to light N in the afternoon.

First column failed at CTH22, down 80cm, sudden planar on a knife penetrable ice crust sitting atop a layer of 2mm facets. Second column yielded a CTN - we couldn't duplicate the failure even with extra-heavy blows on the shovel. That said, the snowpack still exhibits a high, mid-winter temperature gradient with 10-15cm of fresh, fist density storm snow atop a mix of knife crusts and 1f-4f faceted layers. A knife penetrable melt-freeze crust sits about 20cm below the surface and appeared well bonded to the upper 5cm of wind press, and 15cm of storm snow.