Date of Observation: 02/12/2021
Name: Evan Ross
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Location: Evans Basion, Mt Emmons
Aspect: East, Southeast, South, Southwest
Elevation: 9,300-12,300
Avalanches: A few small sluffs out of steep terrain, otherwise mostly poor visibility.
Weather: Near and above treeline were just nasty of course. Lots of snow transport and westerly winds strong enough to make you stumble. Measured about 7″ of new snow early afternoon at 10,500ft.
Snowpack: Other than small test slopes, I didn’t travel in avalanche terrain. Traveled through all the elevation bands, but didn’t spend much time up high due to the wind and weather of course. Below treeline, I got on a number of steep test slopes without results. I think the new snow in those areas wasn’t doing much for a storm slab avalanche problem, and the persistent weak layers were simply too deep in the snowpack, resulting in supported slopes that couldn’t displace if there was a collapse. Got close to other bigger steep slopes, also without anything notable. Many of those bigger slopes had also previously avalanched with crown lines still visible.