Larry's Line

We had another great day with KPAC Recreational Level 1 avalanche students. With permission from Arizona Snowbowl Ski Patrol, we accessed the hike-to terrain (from the top of the gondola) to evaluate the snowpack and teach avalanche safety.  Thank you, AZSB Patrol, for your continued support! 

At 11,550' on a NW aspect (Larry's Line), we found a snowpack with moderate to high strength, poor structure, and failures that tended to propagate in facets under the holiday ice layers. It seems that the facets/depth hoar under the holiday ice layer(s) has become more reactive now that the mid-February storm snow has consolidated into a slab. Here is a video (from Mike Farrell) of ECTP17 failure in the facets below the holiday ice: Video Link.