Date of Observation: 11/12/2022
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Upper Slate, traveled on N, NE, and E aspects to 12,200’.
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: None
Weather: High thin clouds, calm winds. Inverted temps this morning.
Snowpack: Not much to add onto yesterday’s obs. Snow surface is faceting quickly. We got several moderate sized collapses near treeline on previously cross-drifted east aspects. Got moderate propagating test results on similar NE facing slopes, 2’ deep on the 11/3 facet layer (see video). Also traveled through a lot of terrain that was lacking any kind of previous drifting or slab formation or signs of instability. We did get one collapse on an east facing, sheltered BTL slope, where a thin crust (11/3) helped propagate the collapse about a foot deep in an otherwise soft snowpack. I doubt this is an issue on sheltered slopes, but it highlights how collapsible that crust is.
Photos:
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- Targeted stability test on a cross drifted terrain feature
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- The predominate wind direction from past wind events that has caused slab formation on some leeward features, while many other slopes lack slab or are even wind eroded.
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- My first time onto Purple Bench since last year’s holiday cycle. A few of the older trees toppled from the Purple Peak slide. Cross-drifted south facing terrain in the background, which now has a nice thick crust below the recent snow.
