Quick report
- Cracking
- isolated
Today we went to the favored Swan Range to get a taste of some deep snow and see what problems were developing.
Two takeaways:
1. Don't trust wind-drifted snow. We unintentionally triggered a slab that failed 1 to 1.5 feet thick that took me off my feet. I only went a short distance due to the relatively benign terrain we were in. The slide was triggered just below a ridgeline with light wind drifting.
2. Excellent riding in wind-protected terrain. We managed sluff by selecting slopes with slope angles less than 38 degrees. Sluffs only ran short distances in this terrain. More aggressive tactics would be needed in steeper terrain because sluff did entrain snow as it moved downslope.
- NOTE: This slab failed on a persistent weak layer (Surface Hoar) that likely formed Wednesday or Thursday. This layer was beneath a harder windboard under the new snow. See video for more information.
Evidence of drifting snow. A loose-dry problem that felt on the verge of being a storm slab problem in wind-protected locations. Few loose drys did begin to fracture into small soft slabs.
Weather
- Air Temp
- Below Freezing
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- moderate
- Recent Snowfall
- 6 inches and 12 inches in 24hr.
- Snow Avail For Transport
- moderate amounts
Steady moderate to heavy snowfall. Precip rates appeared to be higher below 6000 feet. There were roughly 3 inches on the sled during the 4-hour tour.
Snowpack
Snowpit at 6650 on NW Aspect. HS280. ECTNM down 30 cm (1 foot) on new/old snow interface. We dug roughly 1.5 meters and never found older buried weak layers.
Avalanche
- Size
- D1 R1
- Type
- L
- Count
- 2
- Aspect
- NW
- Trigger
- AS
- Elevation
- 6000 ft
Muliple loose dry triggered intentionally on descent. Easy to manage. Few cracked and behaved like soft slab.