Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
Overall, we found rightside up, low density snow on northern aspects. Wind affect NTL in leeward terrain, some reactive wind slabs. Snow was rightside up, approx 10-12 inches above 6000' of very light snow on a wet crust. BTL the snow was not reactive; did not observe any soft slabs releasing. NTL there was reactivity on that wet snow layer on northern aspects, especially in shallower areas such as gullies and couloirs. Wind affect was increasing throughout the day as 'bomb cyclone' winds increased.
Weather
- Air Temp
- ~20
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Winds were picking up throughout the day, as the bomb cyclone approached. BTL there was little to no wind activity. NTL was a different story; winds began to rip around noon and were pretty sustained throughout the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, almost no sun breaks.
Snowpack
The snowpack above 5k is pretty robust. There's 10-12 inches of low density snow sitting on a wet interface from 11/17 when the rain-snow transition began. BTL the snowpack was largely non-reactive, any storm slab instabilities seemed to have mellowed out. NTL there's wind affect near ridgelines and more reactivity in shallower areas near rocks and gullies, especially on northern aspects. In terms of snow depth, we did not specifically measure but there were no shark attacks all day. Lakes in Silver Basin are supportive for travel, and most creeks appear filled in. There are still a few baby trees poking out, but for the most part coverage is looking good! On southern aspects there is a much shallower snowpack; rocks and trees will poke you.
Avalanche
Triggered 2 soft slabs in couloirs in the Silver Basin environs. Both were reactive, 8-12 inches, running on a wet interface from when the rain/snow transition began a few days back. Both ran wall-to-wall in the gully. No skiers were caught or carried.