Quick report
- Cracking
- specific
Mostly deep unconsolidated "cold smoke" abound that started to get a little upside-down feeling by the end of the day d/t the wind. Heaps and heaps of snow available for transport and the wsw wind was pushing snow around on high elevation unprotected windward slopes and along the ridge creating areas of soft slabs/drifts 4-18" thick. Ski cut very steep short roll-overs in mostly wind protected terrain with no result other than minor sluffing. Less wind protected terrain in the upper 200 vertical ft was a different beast with shooting cracks of 5-35 ft with ski cuts resulting in a couple very small D1 slides running 10-20 ft. These were limited by the terrain we had thoughtfully chosen and definitely would have gone bigger in more consequential terrain. Observed snowmobile "high marks" on atypical (i.e. not Crown Bowl) east facing slopes of Checkerboard as well as ski tracks along the same slope that didn't appear to provoke more than sluffing. Cornices are getting large up there! Touchy soft slabs building in upper elevation unprotected terrain and ridges.
Weather
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Snow Avail For Transport
- large amounts
It may have cleared up in the valley today, but it sure didn't where we were. Cold, intermittent light snow, and moderate winds. Approx 6.5k up mostly in the clouds until the regularly scheduled 4pm lift.
Snowpack
New snow falling on the January weak layers (facets/surface hoar) has been very light and unconsolidated, but in areas where enough snow has fallen and wind has allowed formation of a slab we're at the tipping point.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1
- Type
- SS
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- W
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 6700 ft