Date of Observation: 01/03/2022
Name: billy barr

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Judd Falls TH

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: The slide i heard when i was outside and saw that powder cloud was a good size one. It ran through it’s running zone, across the river depositing much of its snow just past the river and then crossed the road and reached and went past the Judd Falls trailhead outhouse. Picture attached. A lot of wind after that so the slide is not as clear looking.
Weather: Snowpack settled 10″ in 2 days. It was -22ºF yesterday but so far juust -9 this morning. Water in the current snowpack is 14.0 inches of water. billy

Date of Observation: 01/01/2022
Name: Than Acuff

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Gothic Mtn

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Avalanche off Gothic spoon from below the choke lookers left and another smaller pocket below it same side. Appeared to have pulled out after the snow stopped as crown looked sharp(?). Didn’t appear to run very far.

Date of Observation: 01/01/2022
Name: Zach Guy and Eric Murrow

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: West Brush. We traveled mostly on flat terrain or on southwest aspects below treeline.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Relative to what we’ve documented so far in the Northwest Mountains, avalanche activity out here was smaller, D2 to D2.5, mostly on E to NE aspects from our vantage. There were a few slides that ran yesterday and a few that ran earlier in the storm that required a keen eye to see the debris piles. Those crowns were filled in.
Weather: Cooling trend as the day progressed. Moderate northwest winds at ridgetop, with some wind transport near treeline and decent transport above treeline. Partly cloudy skies.
Snowpack: No signs of instability observed. We tested the 12/23 interface (small grained, rounding facets) on a southwest slope below treeline and got consistent non-propagating results. Slab thickness was 135 cm, HS 170.

Date of Observation: 01/01/2022
Name: Dave Koz

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Ruby Peak

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Caught this moving snow coming off of Ruby today.

Date of Observation: 01/01/2022
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Mt. Axtell Viewed from Mt. CB

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Several D3 to D3.5 avalanches on Mt. Axtell that ran yesterday. Both wrapped across multiple aspects.

Date of Observation: 01/01/2022
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Viewed from Mt. CB. Got a window of so-so vis and could see a handful of peaks in the Northwest Mountains and Gothic.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Numerous very destructive avalanches, ranging from D3 to D4 in size. Couldn’t see runouts so making estimates on size based on terrain size, crown size, and amount of snow in tracks and runouts. All of the crowns shown in the photos below look crisp enough that they likely ran yesterday.

Date of Observation: 01/01/2022
Name: billy barr

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Gothic

Observed avalanche activity: No
Weather: And you may finally get a rest from my sunrise weather notes as the storm system seems to be moving on. Light but steady snow all day Saturday until stopping around 8 p.m. with just scattered, light snow overnight. High temp. ws up to 23F and the morning low was 8F with current 10F. There was 10″ new snow and water content of 0.71″. Snowpack reached 68″ and now is at 64″ deep. A light wind with occasional gusting and now a light W wind. I may get visibility today for the first time in 9 days other than a couple hours a week ago. Currently overcast but that beats obscured. Now time to dig out. billy

Date of Observation: 12/31/2021
Name: billy barr

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Gothic Townsite

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: I was outside moving snow (but then, aren’t we all) at 8:50 and heard a noise up on Gothic and then saw- not the slide as there is no visibility- but the powder cloud coming out of the cirque just north of here. This path runs pretty large though i have no idea how it did and will not until it clears.

I ducked down under the solar panels not because i was afraid, but because, um, a, i dropped my contact lens, yes, that is why. Imagine how silly i felt when i remembered- i don’t wear contacts!?! Anyway, safe to say it’s a war out there.

For your amusement, i have attached the dumbest photo ever- a power cloud during a storm when there is little visibility anyway. Sorry. Keeps me laughing. billy
Weather: Snow continues heavy with 3″ new in the past 2 hours.
Snowpack:

Date of Observation: 12/31/2021
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Traveled mostly on easterly aspects below 10,000 ft. Two short tours, one near Brush Creek TH and one near Red Mountain.

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Poor visibility and I did not travel near avalanche terrain.
Weather: Moderate snowfall most of the day. Snowfall rates increased to heavy by mid-afternoon. Moderate gusts in exposed locations.
Snowpack: Targeted persistent slab sensitivity in the shallow part of our forecast area. I did not experience any signs of instability under foot (collapses or cracking). Stability tests produced a mix of propagating and non-propagating results below slabs 3 to 5 feet thick. The 12/6 layer (only on northerly aspects here) looks like garbage still (3-4mm in size, fist hard),with very little signs of strengthening. It consistently showed propagating results in ECTs and PSTs. The 12/23 layer (on all aspects that we covered, SE, E, NE, and N) showed a mix of propagating and non-propagating results. This layer looks like it is rounding, hardening, and will heal fairly quickly once the loading ends. See photos and profiles for details.

Date of Observation: 12/31/2021
Name: Billy Barr

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Gothic townsite

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches:
Weather: Thankfully there was no wind yesterday or overnight. A steady, moderate to heavy snowfall with 21″ new, 17″ of which came from sunset to what passes as sunrise. Total water content was 1.27″ which comes to a very light 6% water- easily the driest snowfall of the winter. The snowpack is at winter’s deepest of 65½”. Currently obscured and snowing moderately with no temperature movement from a high of 19F to the current and low of 18F. Wind is 1-2 SW. I heard a slide run while outside in the hour it took to get around and clear everything. Looks like i will not ski the peak of Gothic today. It was that or a cup of tea- you do the math. billy