Quick report
- Aspect
- Northwest
- Red Flags
- Recent Avalanches, Heavy Snowfall, Wind Loading, Cracking, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
- Elevation
- 2713 m
- Slope Angle
- 37°
- Red Flags Comment
- <p>All the red flags still present, which is good, snowpack is still communicating its crankiness (worry a bit more when the signs are not so obvious). Didn't submit seperate avalanches, as I got some 2nd hand, but feel free to add something on naturals in upper Weber Canyon. East facing No Name Bowl slid to the ground, had a bit of new snow on the bed surface, so probably overnight. There was one sympathetic release, not exactly sure on location, think it was somewhere in the Giant Steps area. Explosive testing on some 30 degree slopes in the mid elevations (~8,500') got the snowpack to crack to the ground, but the slabs didn't move far due to slope angle and lots of shruby anchors still present.</p>
Pit from a WNW facing slope at mid-elevation. Most the snowpack is composed of new snow, with minor density changes in the new snow. Basal facets are shallow and capped with a relative stout crust. CT columns would fail on isolation at the basal facets, but ECTs would not fail or propagate on the basal facets. Even though I think these areas will not pose too much of a problem in the future, I still wouldn't touch a steep one right now. Skiing was kept to low angle slopes.
Photos show a large deep slab that failed with explosives. Slope was small and barely 30 degrees, so it cracked, failing to the ground, but only slid about 6 inches before the slab arrested due to slope angle and anchors. Separate slope did the same thing with a shot.
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>There will be some new ones tomorrow, but there wasn't anything too major today.</p> <p>Continued natural and human triggered activity as described above. Problem less pronounced at the mid-elevation non-northerly facing slopes where the basal facet layer is shallower and anchored a bit by scrub. Mid-elevation northerly a bit more suspect.</p>
Looked like about 14 in 24 hours at 9AM and about 8 overnight. Density was 8%, but it was heavier in most places due to wind effect.