Date of Observation: 03/26/2023
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Pittsburg to 11,600′ saddle between Schuylkill Ridge and Schuylkill Mtn, traveling mostly on north and northeast aspects.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A large (D2.5) debris pile off the north side of Schuylkill Ridge appeared to run Friday night or Saturday, based on minimal fresh snow on the debris. We traced the lookers right side of the debris lobe, which knocked over a few small trees. The combination of flat light and recent drifting near ridgetop made it difficult to make out the crown.
Weather: Unseasonably cold. Light winds. Very light snowfall and overcast most of the day.
Snowpack: About 6″ of recent snow from Friday night, with notable wind affect near treeline. No signs of instability underfoot except for some minor cracking about 8″ deep in drifted terrain. Stability tests on both north and southeast aspects near treeline produced hard, non-propagating results on the 3/20 interface, which is small, rounding facets buried about 60 cm deep.
-
- We traced the lookers right side of debris from a recent large avalanche (D2.5) off of Schuylkill Ridge’s north bowl.
-
- Debris from the recent Schuylkill slide; with a small tree knocked over.
-
- Stability test on SE aspect NTL
-
- Stability test on N aspect NTL.
-
- Some minor cracking on a wind drifted slope.
