Titus Ridge

The combination of new snow and wind, as well as older weak snow buried 1-2 feet deep, kept us from entering steep terrain. We saw several recent avalanches and received multiple cracks and collapses that were failing 1-2' deep in weak sugary facets. The wind was strong and actively blew snow all day. 

-Observed numerous small to large slab avalanches on middle and upper elevation terrain on NW-N-NE slopes. -Cracking/collapsing on the 12/5 facets buried 1-2 feet deep that travelled 50' across features. -Cracking on the new/old interface (12/17) was isolated in wind-sheltered locations.

The questions we tried to answer today: How is the new/old interface bonding?  What is the distribution and sensitivity of wind slabs? How is the loading event impacting the 12/05 facets? 

New/Old (12/17)  interface:
We observed about 6-9" of new snow sitting above a thin melt-freeze crust that we are calling the 12/17 layer. This crust extended to 9300'. As the crust disappeared above 9300', we did not see any obvious faceting in the old snow surface. Windslabs overlying 12/17 were 30-50cm thick. There are small 1mm facets underlying the crust. We received a handful of localised cracking in wind-sheltered locations on this layer that were failing on the facets below the crust. 

Wind Slabs:
Windslabs overlying 12/17 were 30-50cm thick along ridgelines. We had cracking and collapsing in wind-loaded terrain. We saw an impressive amount of wind-affected snow on middle elevation north-facing terrain along the Titus/Coyote creek divide. We would expect to see windslabs form in uncommon areas in response to the strong winds. 

12/05 weak layer:
We were finding this layer 30-60cm deep. The slab overlying this layer is 4F hard. Collapses and cracking were primarily occurring in wind-loaded terrain, but the failures were occurring on these facets.