Mt Emmons, N-NE-E

Date of Observation: 12/15/2022
Name: Evan Ross

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Mt Emmons. N to E. 9,000ft to 11,400ft.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Lots of old avalanche activity in the terrain, but nothing new or notable that doesn’t fit the mold.

Weather: Mostly cloudy, calm wind, cold.

Snowpack: Climbing up through the terrain the snowpack transitioned from weak and shallow, to deep and stubborn. Somewhere in the middle, there was a narrow band where the persistent slab avalanche problem may have been reactive. Only a few collapse with notable effort. A couple of those shook trees but didn’t produce on the nearby steep slopes. Overall the snowpack structure remains poor and has just become less reactive or stubborn.

9,600ft. NE aspect, 35-degree slope. HS 60cm. ECTN. The mid-pack slab was 4F over the F November Facets. Facets are developing throughout this snowpack and the mid-pack slab was losing its ability to propagate a collapse. Near this pit, I found some recently formed wind drifts that added structure and made that specific snowpack reactive.

11,000ft. ENE aspect, 30-degree slope. HS 100cm. ECTX, CT21 SC on the November facets. Here the mid-pack slab was 1F .8mm rounded grains over the F 2.5mm faceted grains. Poor snowpack structure. No amount of jumping or punching ski boots to the weak layer was producing a collapse.

Somewhere between those two locations, it felt like there should be a sweet spot where the persistent slab avalanche problem would be more reactive. I couldn’t put my finger on where exactly that is.

11,200ft. NNE aspect. This slope had previously avalanched. Below the bed surface, there was about 10cm of well-developed facets. Above the bed surface, there was 25 to 30cm of new snow that was faceting and losing strength.