Date of Observation: 12/21/2021
Name: Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Traveled on S and SE aspects on Mt. Emmons to 12,300 ft.
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches:
Weather: 17 Degrees at the trailhead. Sunny. Calm to light winds.
Snowpack: Not anything that we don’t already know. Scouring and pockets of windslab at ridge top indicating recent southwest winds. A quick hand pit on a shaded north aspect at 10,800 ft revealed small facets at the ground below a fist hard yet relatively cohesive slab. The snow surface throughout the day changed a lot depending on the precise aspect and when it got sun. It varied between crust, surface facets (radiation recrystallization?) and soft, sun affected snow (there were even a few small loose wet sloughs when skiing the SE face). No obvious signs of instability on S aspects although I didn’t dig to look. Things will surely get interesting with the upcoming storm as there will probably be lots of isolated pockets of less predicable instabilities in addition to the more widespread PWL.