Date of Observation: 12/31/2020
Name: Aaron Peterson
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Location: Washington Gulch
Aspect: South East
Elevation: 11,500
Avalanches: We did not observe any new slides.
Weather: Clear, calm, and gorgeous.
Snowpack: We traveled on south through east facing terrain to the east of Elkton and felt routine collapsing on and off the skin track. Most notably, our pit showed a relatively firm (1 finger plus, almost pencil hard) slab resting on 40cm of basal facets. Test results on this interface were hard to trigger (CT 22- resistant, and ECTX), however they propagated easily (PST 34/100 end). The slab was stubborn and sturdy, but still scary. As if to drive the point home, after demolishing our pit I stepped aside and onto a thinner patch of snow near a wind blown feature. This triggered a very large wumph across our snowfield. “Nearly pant altering” according to my partner. We were incredibly happy not to be on steeper terrain.
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