Quick report
- Red Flags
- Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>Snowpack is quite weak with widespread faceting near the ground, beneath the Christmas storm, and near the surface. Conversely, slabs are breaking down, losing their cohesion and their energy. Collapsing and cracking were isolated to wind drifts along ridge crests. We did observe an ECTP on isolation around 9500' on a northerly aspect. Failure was at 30cm in a 60cm snowpack, on facets below the Christmas storm/old snow interface. Though this weak layer remains widespread on northerly aspects, the results were isolated. </p>
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The overall poor snowpack structure, and isolated ECT results indicate that we are not out of the woods completely, and that the danger for triggering a persistent slab avalanche still exists, primarily on upper elevation NW-N-E slopes stepper than about 35 degrees. </p>
Classic mixed bag of old, tired snow with melt freeze crusts and damp snow on sun exposed slopes, wind affected snow on exposed northerly aspects, and settled dense loose and near surface facets forming on sheltered northerly aspects.