Date of Observation: 12/13/2022
Name: Eric Murrow

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Kebler Pass road to Horse Ranch Park then up Cliff Creek route to Beckwith Pass.

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: non observed, visibility obscured views of the east end of East Beckwith or any other steep terrain in the area.
Weather: Overcast skies, moderate winds blowing west to east down the Kebler Pass corridor, light snowfall from 11am to 3pm. Storm totals ranged from 9 to 12 inches from Kebler Pass to Beckwith Pass. Snowfall rates during the day were light enough to be offset by the settlement in the storm snow already on the ground.
Snowpack: Near Beckwith Pass, I measured 11.5″of storm snow with .75″ of snow water equivalent. I dug a couple of profiles below treeline and found a snowpack that ranged from 100 to 130cm. Snowpack tests showed moderate propagating potential on basal facets. Given that the slab at this location (see photo) was nearly pencil hard, I think the .75″ of water in the storm snow had made the Persistent Slab problem more sensitive to the weight of a person, but not nearly enough to produce natural activity outside of highly drifted leeward features at upper elevations. I didn’t experience any collapsing while snowmobiling or while stomping through the slab directly above suspect test slopes. Due to slab thickness, around 90cm, and with a hardness near Pencil at the bottom of the slab, I would not really anticipate signs of instability in sheltered terrain until I found a trigger point. I also did not find any buried surface hoar beneath the storm snow in several suspect locations. I was able to produce cracking up to 15 feet in fresh, shallow drifts on lee features below treeline.

Date of Observation: 12/12/2022
Name: Eric Murrow

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Brush Creek TH to West Brush Creek. Tour in the Union Chutes area.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A handful of natural avalanches from last week were observed on east and northeast terrain near and below treeline.
Weather: Cloudy skies produced light snowfall from 1230 to 2pm with sporadic snow through 330. Accumulations less than an inch. Southwesterly winds drifted snow at ridgetop with light loading onto easterly alpine start zones.
Snowpack: The snowpack remains fairly shallow, less than 2 feet, below 9,500 feet near the confluence of Brush and West Brush Creeks. Snow depth increased as I traveled the few miles up West Brush Creek. Snow depth near the valley bottom by Teocalli, around 10,000 feet, on east and northeast terrain was about 90cm and slowly increased to around 105cm around 11,200 feet. Close to valley bottom, I produced some moderate size collapsing. Near 11,000 feet and above I struggled to get a collapse even with booting into the weak layer but finally got one loud, rumbling collapse after numerous attempts. Snow pit tests produced moderate propagating test results on the basal facets (see photo).  Fewer signs of instability than I expected, but the same poor structure above the untrustworthy basal facets.

Date of Observation: 12/11/2022
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Pittsburg Rollers area, up to 10,500 ft on north to northeast aspects.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Nothing new today. Filling in some previously undocumented persistent slabs from the 12/6-12/8 cycle. See photos.
Weather: Unseasonably warm and sunny
Snowpack: Widespread 1mm to 3mm surface hoar below about 10,000 feet on shady aspects, with minor near surface faceting elsewhere on the snow surface.
After venturing away from the regularly traveled areas, we tried getting collapses by skinning, stomping skis, and then punching boots through the slab a few times. Only one of the boot pen attempts produced a rumbling collapse. Tests produced hard, propagating results on a F+ layer of rounding facets buried below an 80 cm slab up to 1F hard. The failure occurred just below the thin rime/rain crust that formed back in November. See pit.

Date of Observation: 12/11/2022
Name: Zach Kinler

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Up Anthracite Mesa via Washington Gulch TH

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: No new avalanches observed
Weather: Sunny and pleasant, calm winds.
Snowpack: This is a zone that has seen no traffic so the slab/weak layer was unmolested. I got rumbling collapses in every open area and some areas within the trees. Most often these collapses shook the snow off of trees in the surrounding area. A pit at 10,800′ on an East aspect produced and ECTP13 on 2-3 mm facets near the ground under a 45cm slab up to 1F. Stomped above a couple of steeper slopes with no results however these appear to have avalanched in early December with around 10 inches of low-density snow in the bed surface.

Date of Observation: 12/11/2022
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Red Lady Bowl

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A solo skier on the looker’s right side of the bowl remotely triggered the looker’s left side of the bowl after descending into the benches near the bottom of the main bowl. The skier reported that there were no involvements.

Date of Observation: 12/10/2022
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Snowmobiled out to Upper Cement and skied near Hunter Hill and Timbered Hill up to 12,300′ traveling on various aspects.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: The southeast face of Castle Peak has a fresh crown that appears to be triggered today by a very small dribbler from a cornice. We did not see the slide on yesterday’s flight and flew right by it. Documenting a few other persistent slabs that ran sometime in the past few days that we missed because of the flight route, flat light, or maybe one ran after our flight.
Weather: Rapid warming, from near zero temps this morning to near-freezing temps mid-day. Light ridgetop winds and mostly clear skies.
Snowpack: Below treeline continues to produce fairly frequent collapses. Once we gained elevation to near treeline, the slabs get noticeably thicker and harder, and collapses became less common. We would occasionally trigger one from near a tree or on the margin of a drift. Test results on a NTL east-facing slope produced hard, propagating results on 2-3mm F+ facets below a 75 cm slab up to 1F. HS ranges from 60 cm near the bottom of Waterfall Trail (9,800′), to 90 cm just below Friends Hut (11,000′). Snow surfaces got moist or wet today on sunny aspects to at least 11,800′ and produced a few rollerballs.

Date of Observation: 12/10/2022
Name: Evan Ross and the Zachs

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: East face of Mineral Point

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: It looks like East Face of Mineral ran very large last night or yesterday afternoon. We did not see it yesterday morning.

Date of Observation: 12/10/2022
Name: Zach Kinler

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Middle Brush Creek and West Brush Creek

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches:
Weather:
Snowpack:

Date of Observation: 12/10/2022
Name: Zach Kinler

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: East Brush Creek

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: 
Weather:
Snowpack: