Steamboat & Flat Tops

Several small natural Dry Loose avalanches that occurred during the storm cycle

Morning was cold with scattered clouds and light west winds. Temps rose in the afternoon to the teens, with few clouds and light/moderate westerly winds. No precipitation. Total new snow from the 3/5-3/6 storm: 11” at 10000ft.

Strong easterly winds overnight formed wind slabs up to 60cm thick NTL on Soda Mtn, and to a lesser degree BTL in the South Fork Soda drainage. Where it wasn’t stripped away by wind, new snow was resting on various old surfaces, i.e. stout windboard (Soda Mtn, N aspect, NTL), a thick 5-7cm melt-freeze crust on solar aspects of Soda Mtn (Soda Mtn, SE>SW, NTL), and a 1.5cm melt-freeze crust in the South Fork of Soda drainage (N, BTL). Noted several small natural Dry Loose avalanches on steep N in the S. Fork of Soda drainage that ran during the storm cycle. I observed no cracking, no collapsing. I dug a handful of pits on N & S aspects NTL, and another BTL on N aspect. One out of six pits, only one had propagating results: Soda Mtn, NTL, S, ECTP12 down 50cm, failing at the new/old interface on a wind slab sitting on a layer of 1-2mm NSF resting on a 7cm MFcr. I was unable to produce propagating results in deeper PWLs in any of my pits.