Date of Observation: 02/27/2023
Name: Ben Pritchett and Eric Murrow

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Hunter Creek

Observed avalanche activity: No
Snowpack: The snowpack easily supported the weight of our sleds on most features, on many aspects and elevations. The only places we found a mostly weak snowpack were a) below 9,500′ in the valley bottom, b) a very shallow wind-swept spot on a ridge where we punched through the surface slab, c) and odd patches of weak snow near trees or creeks.
We could not find full-depth faceted areas like what has been reported on the steep-walled valleys on the north side of the Elk Mountains.
We found 140-160cm of snow at valley bottom in middle Cement Creek at 10,200′; 170-190cm near treeline; and up to 300cm in alpine features with cross-loading.
The layer of facets buried around Valentines lurked around 30 to 40cm deep, generally 4-finger stiff. Only where we targeted a shallow-depth south-facing spot did we elicit a hard propagating test result. Otherwise tests did not propagate. We experienced no collapsing or cracking. The slab on this upper-snowpack weak layer was 1-finger to pencil hard in wind-drifted areas, and 4-finger hard in wind-sheltered spots.

Date of Observation: 02/27/2023
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Traversed from Ohio Pass through the Playground to the south side of the Anthracite Range to Beaver Ponds, traveling on various aspects to 11,500′

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: A few minor loose dry avalanches in the fresh snow. Eric spotted a few small wind slabs in the Whetstone area this morning.
Weather: Mostly cloudy, with a few flurries with minimal accumulation and light winds. About 4″ of new snow past 24 hours.
Snowpack: Hunting for persistent slab issues today in terrain features that might hold weaker or more developed facets in the upper snowpack. Test results on a wind-exposed northerly facing slope near treeline did not produce any notable results (ECTN) on small-grained facets about 2 feet deep. On an east-facing slope near treeline, I got hard, propagating results on a layer of small-grained facets (.3mm, 4F, rounding) about 2 feet deep, below a 4F+ slab. We did not experience any signs of instability throughout the tour, with ski and skinning traffic on similar types of slopes.
Snow surfaces are currently fairly low-density precip particles (~10%) that got moist on the sunniest aspects BTL.

Date of Observation: 02/26/2023
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Targeting below treeline terrain in the shallowest parts of our forecast area. Looked at the snowpack on various aspects of Red Mountain and Point Lookout to about 9,800′

Observed avalanche activity: No
Weather: An inch or two of new snow fell today. I observed some light drifting on open, below treeline slopes.
Snowpack: I traveled in areas where the snowpack is less than about 4 feet deep. The slab is generally faceted, but I was able to produce one unstable result on deep weak layers (the 12/20 facet layer, below a 4F 80cm slab). The upper snowpack also has weak layers of concern, the largest and most developed is the late January facet layer, which is only buried 25 cm or less. I got a mix of propagating and non-propagating results on this layer, the most reactive results were on an ESE aspect. The slab above that layer is lacking or not well developed in most terrain, but this could be more of an issue with additional snowfall.

Date of Observation: 02/25/2023
Name: Eric Murrow

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Recreational day out Upper Cement Creek/Brush Creek

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: One recent natural avalanche on the northeast side of Double Top. The north Bowl on Cement Mountain had debris in the basin but the crown looked well drifted in (see photo). The northeast cirque on Carbon Peak had suspicious-looking crown markings but the photo was inconclusive (see photo).  No other obvious large avalanches were observed looking into SE mountains from the head of Hunter Creek.
Weather: Thin high clouds, mild air temps, and moderate winds above treeline.
Snowpack: Solar aspects became moist at mid to low elevations by the afternoon; some roller ball activity. Recent storm totals settled to around 10-12 inches at the head of Hunter Creek.

Date of Observation: 02/16/2023
Name: Evan Ross

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Washington Gulch. 10,000 to 12,600

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Any old wind slab or storm slab avalanches from last week have been blown back over. No notable natural avalanches stood out.
Weather: Overcast to mostly cloudy with thin high clouds most of the day. Clearing in the later afternoon. Consistent moderate winds above 11,500ft, that also tapered off in the later afternoon.
Snowpack: The alpine consisted of some monster drifts, loaded planner bowls with good-looking snow, and exfoliated crusts. When we moved through old wind slabs they felt stubborn. We avoided the biggest loaded terrain features. In the afternoon snow surfaces on west were moist at 11,000ft. Later noticed roller balls on SW and W from similar elevations and lower. A test pit on a 30-degree west-facing slope at 10,500ft had a layer of NSF down 45cm that produced a hard ECTN result.

Date of Observation: 02/24/2023
Name: Evan Ross

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Slate River. 9,000ft to 11,000ft. NE-E,S.

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: None

Weather: Headed out after the morning pulse of wind and snow. Gained Ridgeline around 11am with moderate southwest winds. S-1 to S1 from 10am through mid-day. The snow and wind tapered out in the afternoon.

Snowpack: Traveled cautiously near bigger wind-loaded terrain features. Otherwise skied aggressively with no observed signs of instability. Density changes in the recent storm snow could be observed in small column tests and on wind-loaded test slopes. At 11,000ft a low 34-degree south-facing slope had thick crusts in the upper snowpack, under this past week’s recent snow accumulations.

Date of Observation: 02/23/2023
Name: Irwin Cat-Ski

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Irwin Guides cat-ski tenure.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: SS-AE-R2-D2-I FC (35cm x 40m x 100m)
SS-AE-R1-D1.5-I FC (35cm x 20m x 80m)
SS-AE-R1-D1.5-I FC (35cm x 20m x 60m)
SS-AE-R1-D1-I FC (25cm x 15m x 50m)
Weather:
Snowpack: “Triggered a couple size 2 avalanches out of our east terrain with explosives.”

Date of Observation: 02/23/2023
Name: Eric Murrow

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Hwy 135 obs and tour up sunny side of Mount Emmons.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: While driving to town I got a glimpse of a few naturals in drifted terrain on Whetstone that appeared to only involve the storm snow. Slides pictured are from the Octagon zone (D1.5) and Barcelona Bowl (D2-ish). Brief glimpse of Main Bowl and Hidden Lake basin suggested more activity but the views were too brief to really see what happened.
On Emmons, I observed a few D1.5 naturals in the drifted terrain below the skinner near treeline but never was able to see the crowns below the cornice.
Weather: Cold temps were tolerable at the valley bottom and decreased to unpleasant levels above treeline. Winds above treeline were commonly light to moderate with an occasional strong gust. Snowfall was very light from 10 am to 3 pm, with less than an inch of accumulation. Some snow transport was observed midday loading into easterly terrain.
Snowpack: Storm totals ranged from 10 to 14 inches. In sheltered areas, I did not get any cracking in the storm snow and a test profile site from a northeast feature produced no propagating results in the upper 3 feet of the snowpack. Once I started to find drifted snow near and above treeline, I was able to reliably get cracks to shoot 10 feet but much less reactive than Wednesday. Stomping above and kicking cornices into drifted terrain did not produce any results.

Date of Observation: 02/23/2023
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Rec tour on Mt. Emmons, below treeline northerly terrain up to 10,900′

Observed avalanche activity: No
Weather: Overcast, light winds in the trees. Light snowfall, with about 3″ since yesterday, bringing settled storm totals up to about a foot.
Snowpack: Skier triggered a large, rumbling collapse that failed on weak facets about 3′ deep. The collapse and shooting cracks wrapped from N to NE aspects around 10,850′ and would have produced a dangerous persistent slab avalanche on a steeper slope. This terrain has seen a fair number of skiers in the past month, and we skinned across the top of it yesterday without any signs of instability.  I suspect this slope had a relatively shallow and weaker snowpack through January due to previous avalanche activity and/or wind erosion from northerly winds.  Minimal cracking in the storm snow today while riding in wind protected terrain.