Snowpack

Lake Ck

Davis, MillerSoldier & Wood River Valley Mtns
View on map
Observation photo 1Observation photo 2Observation photo 3Observation photo 4Observation photo 5

Quick report

We visited the crown of a remotely triggered avalanche in Lake Ck. The slide failed on weak facets below a 2' thick slab formed by February storms. This slab over weak layer structure was widespread on shaded middle elevation slopes. 

Avalanche refers to the skier-triggered slide on Feb 9th. No cracking or collapsing.

Weather

Cloud Cover
few
Wind Loading
previous
Rain Elevation
n/a
Recent Snowfall
n/a
Snow Avail For Transport
moderate amounts

Mostly clear near and north of Hailey. Thicker clouds and some very light snowfall in the AM from Ketchum and south. Very cold in the valleys, warming at middle elevations. Ocassional light WNW wind.

Snowpack

Shaded slopes held ~70-120 cm of snow. Roughly half of this was the slab formed by February storms. This upper slab graded from F- to 1F at the base. Below that, were F+ facets from the January drought (buried 1/31). This was the failure layer of the avalanche. A thin weak and crumbly crust was found at the 12/13 interface. The 2 mm facets below this graded from 4F to 4F+. 

InstabilityTests:
(2/6) ECTN11, ECTP15 ↓12 cm
(1/31) ECTX (x2), PST (45/100) END ↓ 55 cm | The previous collapse of the slope likely influenced these results.