Date of Observation: 01/04/2023
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Standard skin track up Mount Emmons to Red Lady Bowl and descent down Glades.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A very large avalanche in Red Lady Bowl that broke full-width wrapping from the skin track ridgeline all the way across bowl to saddle with Red Racoon. Crown up to 8 feet thick. With just a skiff of new snow on the bed surface. The debris was hard to see in the poor vis, but I estimate it only ran half of the potential track.
Weather: Mostly cloudy skies with light snow, generally light wind with moderate gusts occasionally transporting snow.
Snowpack: I dug a profile on a near treeline slope with a depth of 150cm that produced an ECTP 30 and PST end 45/100 on basal facets. I found Surface Hoar at this location sitting above the 12/20 crust that produced PST end 30/100. While exiting the profile site, our group collapsed the slope. Slabs near the treeline were around a meter thick with 40cm being 1finger hard.
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- The impressive avalanche in Red Lady Bowl ran sometime in the morning of Wednesday 12/4. The avalanche failed deep in the snowpack. I suspect windloading Wednesday morning pushed this slope passed its tipping point. An avalanche of this size is likely unsurvivable.
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- The crown at this spot was 6 feet tall and a bit further up slope it was a few feet thicker. Yikes!!
