Date of Observation: 02/10/2022

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Peeler

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Skier triggered hard slab in steep 40-45 degree N facing ”protected” and gladed terrain. BTL. ~10,700’. Hard slab was max 8” thick and fairly isolated to terrain feature but entrained a TON of loose facets on a slick surface resulting in impressive momentum gain and running to valley floor; ~800’.

Weather: Partly cloudy skies, moderate temp with cool moderate NW wind.

Snowpack: Highly variable…

Photos:

Date of Observation: 02/10/2022
Name: Ben Ammon Kyle Juszczyk

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Scarp Ridge, Peeler, Schuykill

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Peeler-ENE ATL D1 Loose Dry avalanches. The larger of the two triggered multiple 4-6″ windlsabs as it ran.
Schuykill- D1.5 Loose Dry Avalanches, 10″ F hard FC at the surface, we found no slab.

Snowpack: Steep South aspects were supportive and warm before clouds and wind arrived mid-day.
No signs of instability noted on N-facing ATL terrain off Scarp Ridge.

Date of Observation: 02/10/2022

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: 10,200-11,800 feet east-facing “secret chute.”

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches:

Weather: Partly sunny with thin, high clouds. Very light WNW breeze at the ridgetop.

Snowpack: About 2/3 of the way up (11,400ft), HS was 130cm.

Date of Observation: 02/09/2022
Name: Steve Banks

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Poverty Gulch

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Saw the cutest little windslab that popped out recently on a little roller in micro terrain. NTL elevation but more characteristic of ATL.

Weather: I felt the sweet sweet tickle of snowflakes dancing on my face. Then it stopped. Scattered clouds became overcast by 2 pm. Intermittent moderate winds from the NW causing some drifting near and above treeline.

Snowpack: Yikes. Facet factory. In areas that had previously slid this season we found full depth (70-80 cms) of large grained facets. Other areas with a deeper snowpack had 10-15 cms of large grained facets over a very stiff (P) midpack. In many areas the facets were capped by a stiff wind board, up to 8 cms thick. Despite all this, the skiing was pretty alright.

Date of Observation: 02/09/2022
Name: jeff banks

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Axtell

Observed avalanche activity: No

Weather: increasing winds > 10,800 to Moderate to Strong for the afternoon

Snowpack: ~10mx15m fracture, whumpf & collapse of Diamond shaped windslab
~2-4 inches deep bordered by corn snow all around, easy to identify as isolated pocket & gauge depth
10,850, #SE, ~33*

a few minutes skinning higher up as we reached the tree limit & the fresh wind slabs were:
gaining in thickness ~10 and deeper
continuous, linking up are bigger swaths of terrain & unavoidable
so bravely ran away.

Date of Observation: 02/09/2022
Name: Jack Caprio

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Whetstone Claw. North- east- southeast aspects up to 11,700 feet.

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Nope!

Weather: Scattered to broken cloud cover. Moderate NW winds with strong gusts.

Snowpack: Northeast facing terrain near treeline was variable and wind affected. Every now and then you’d get a nice turn in soft, faceted snow whereas your next turn would be punchy wind affected snow. Wind slabs in this terrain were 2-3 inches thick, and discontinuous due to trees and rocks. No concerns of sluffing in the near treeline elevation band. As we descended below treeline into protected terrain the ski quality improved and sluffing concern increased.

Date of Observation: 02/09/2022
Name: Benn Schmatz

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Skied Redock from the near the summit in Wolf’s Lair (West Facing) which was sunbaked crustyness and dropped out of that run into an open shot to skier’s right (WNW facing) and found the goods… and by goods I mean 10 inches of facets soooo.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Ski triggered sloughs in facets at 11,000′ that ran the entire slope. No propagation, roughly 5 inches deep. By the time we reached the bottom we ended up cooking the whole slope

Weather: 4/8 cloud cover strong NW breeze at ridgetop. light flurries of snow here and there

Date of Observation: 02/08/2022
Name: Josh Jones

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Mt. Emmons, Redwell to Slate

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Saw one newer looking D1-1.5 dry loose that ran 300+ feet from below cliff bands NE Aspect 11500′
Weather: 0/8 Skycover
Saw a bit of active wind transport
Snowpack:

Date of Observation: 02/08/2022
Name: steve banks

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Brush Creek

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Ha!
Weather: Sunny, cool temps below freezing. Surprisingly windy even at lower/mid elevations. NW wind was moving even the big surface facets, tracks getting blown over between laps.
Snowpack: Weak AF on the surface. Large surface facets making for good skiing. Still supportive snowpack with ski pen only about 8 cms. Newly forming soft sastrugi on NW icing aspect. Noted wind transport in adjacent peaks, especially NTL.

Date of Observation: 02/08/2022

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: 8,800-12,200 feet almost entirely on NE aspect.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Older D1 that ran about 200 feet on a convexity between two rock outcrops. Also, skier triggered a very small loose dry slough (or is it sluff) on a steep micro-terrain feature.
Weather: Bluebird with light & variable winds near and above treeline.
Snowpack: BTL and wind protected is soft & faceted. Alpine is a mixed bag of weakening windboard. Reminds me of goldilocks & the three bears; the heavily textured snow is no good, the smooth snow is no good, but the lightly rippled snow is just right!