Date of Observation: 11/20/2021
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Schofield Pass area, traveled on E and NE aspects to 12,200 ft.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Skier triggered a shallow but long-running sluff in the new snow.
Weather: Light winds, light snowfall. Snowfall rates started increasing as we left around 4 p.m.
Snowpack: 2″ to 3″ of new snow. No signs of instability while traveling in steep terrain. In windsheltered terrain, the snowpack is now completely faceted throughout with ski pen close to the ground. Facets are 1mm in size near the surface and up to 2mm near the ground, generally fist hard to fist+ hard. In windier locations this structure is capped by a stiff wind crust of varying thickness; on easterly aspects, capped by a thin melt-freeze crust. We tested an isolated old drift NTL and got hard, non-propagating results below a 15″ hard slab.
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- Skier triggered a shallow, long running sluff in the new snow
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- 2mm facets near the ground
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- Typical snowpack N and BTL: weak and faceted.
