Date of Observation: 03/29/2022
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Snowmobile tour around Kebler Pass area and ski tour up Elk Creek.
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Did not observe any natural avalanches. Skier triggered a tiny loose avalanche on a northeast aspect in the moist storm snow below treeline that ran on top of the soft crust that formed overnight. I suspect that longer slopes below 11,000 feet would have allowed a loose avalanche in the storm snow to gouge into the wet snow below.
Weather: Mostly cloudy skies, periodic light snowfall with a few periods of S1-S2, and moderate westerly winds at upper elevations. Mild temperatures below treeline and a few periods of sunshine. New snow accumulations ranged from 2 – 7 inches along the Kebler corridor at 4pm.
Snowpack: The storm snow was moist and sticky on all aspects below treeline, and the sunny terrain features I traveled on to treeline. At low elevations, the crust below the storm snow was very thin and soft. East, south, and west slopes below treeline felt trap door and punchy. A quick profile on a northeast slope below treeline showed a good amount of liquid water lingering in the snowpack that was draining into the February facet layer. Crusts became supportive to skis somewhere around or just above 11,000 feet. Crusts at 12,000 feet were up to 2 inches thick. I poked into wind drift around 12 inches thick and did not see any cracking or signs of instability. Winds were efficiently transporting the storm snow onto the east half of the compass at 12k.
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- Moist storm snow and a tiny loose avalanche. This slope was barely supportive to skis with each turn punching through the soft crust. A longer slope would have allowed the loose sluff to grow large enough to entrain the wet snow below.
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- A profile of a northeast slope showing liquid water pooling in several places and draining into the February facet layer.
