Date of Observation: 11/11/2022
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Upper Slate. Traveled on SE to NE aspects to 12,000′.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A few minor point releases and a harmless soft slab that ran naturally during the storm on Mineral Point, all D1.
Weather: Chilly, light breeze at ridgetop, clear skies.
Snowpack: 4″ to 6″ of settled new snow, a little deeper in drifted terrain. Fairly minor amounts of wind effect in the new snow, with isolated cracking in shallow drifts near ridgeline. I targeted a test pit on a terrain feature that was heavily cross-loaded from last weekend’s northwest winds. See photo. I got hard propagating results in facets below a crust near the ground (11/3 interface). The slab was 1F hard and about 2 feet thick. Poor structures like this appeared to be fairly isolated throughout the terrain (based on probing and visuals), likely just in heavily drifted features. We also observed several localized collapses underfoot on low angle east facing slopes near treeline. The collapses were on the same weak layer, but the crust was thinner and without much of a slab above it. Below treeline shady aspects are soft throughout without slab development and no signs of instability. The fresh snow surface is soft and fairly uniform across the terrain right now..no doubt the facet machine is cranking with our current and upcoming weather pattern.
-
- Targeted pit in a previously drifted terrain feature NTL.
-
- The only natural slab avalanche that I could see from the last storm.
