Mt. Baldy

Date of Observation: 01/12/2023
Name: Zach Kinler

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Washington Gulch past Elkton and then up lookers left ridge of South Bowl. Quick tour up to Elkton knob upon return.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A handful of avalanches in the NW mountains on SE-E-NE aspects near and above treeline. These were all wind slabs formed over the previous 2 days and generally D1.5 with a couple D2s. No fresh persistent slabs were seen in the deeper snowpack. Observed 2 large slides on the West side of Gothic that looked to have started as wind slabs and then stepped down deeper in the snowpack.
Weather: Cold in the valley, quite pleasant once above 10,000′ especially in the abundant sunshine. Winds were calm below treeline and light near treeline. Occasional Moderate winds were observed moving snow on a few of the highest peaks in the range.
Snowpack: Travelling mainly on Southerly aspects from 10,800-12,100′ snowpack depth was generally between 150-180 cm deep on the uniform, planar slopes. Certain features were much shallower and some deeper. There was about 45 cm of settled snow from the 1/10-1/11 cycle. The upper few inches of snow on steeper southerlies was moist. Other than 2 small collapses on drifted SE features I observed no cracking or collapsing elsewhere. A profile on a SSW aspect near treeline produced an ECTP23 on 1-1.5mm facets near the ground(4 finger minus hardness). The slab here was just over 100 cm thick with the bottom few centimeters being Pencil hard.