Date of Observation: 03/03/2023
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Traveled on the southern side of Mt. Crested Butte, on various aspects up to 10,500′
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Shallow sluffing in very steep terrain
Weather: An inch of new snow. Calm winds below treeline.
Snowpack: Snowpack tests on various aspects were unreactive; the snowpack felt generally safe. The upper snowpack facet layers are weaker and more developed here than in deeper areas, but I couldn’t find enough of a slab above those layers to be an issue. The most concerning structure I found was on a lightly cross drifted NE facing slope, with a 45 cm soft slab (4F) over F+, 1mm facets. It produced moderate, non-propagating results. Stacks of crusts or faceted crusts add strength to the upper 20 cm of the snowpack on the southern half of the compass. Deeper layers were unreactive; the midpack is generally faceted out.
