Baldy Backcountry

I found a weak snowpack just outside the ski area boundary on top of Baldy. The most concerning areas right now are slopes where facets near the ground were protected from warm temperatures and liquid precipitation by just enough overlying snow. These slabs were thick enough to preserve the weak layer, but not so thick that triggering becomes unlikely. Today, that “sweet spot” was about 2' of snow resting on top of the weak facets. 

Observed the crownline of a small avalanche that appeared to be a windslab in the West Fork of Warm Springs. It failed on east-facing terrain below a ridgeline. Had collapses that lasted long enough to count to 2-mississippi. I felt myself physically drop when I initiated these collapses.

Wet Snow:
Rain runnels exist up to 8200'. There is a thin melt-crust about 4-6" below the surface of the snow, which could be from the rains on the evening of 12/21.

Weak snow near the ground:
The snowpack felt dry at 9000'. The slab sitting above the 12/05 facets hardened to 1F, and the 12/05 facets were F- hard. The facets were dry and very weak in areas that had a 60-70cm slab overlying them. Where the slab overlying the facets was thinner (35-45cm), the facets were moist and easily snowballed in my gloves. I dug two pits, one in a deeper location, one in a shallower location. Both snowpits produced propagating results in large column tests failing on the 12/05 facets near the ground.