Date of Observation: 12/11/2021
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Huge thanks to West Elk Air for getting the CBAC team views of the carnage. These photos are from the Northern Ruby Range and Paradise Divide Area

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Widespread activity on various aspects N and ATL near Paradise Divide. See photos.

Date of Observation: 12/11/2021
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Huge thanks to West Elk Air for getting the CBAC team views of the carnage. These photos are from the Ruby Range.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Widespread large avalanches on most aspects above treeline. The most activity was on leeward aspects (NE, E, and SE).

Date of Observation: 12/11/2021
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Anthracite Range and East Beckwith

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A handful of D1 to D2 slabs, various aspects. See photos

Date of Observation: 12/10/2021
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Lower Slate, Lower Oh-Be-Joyful. Traveled on NE, SE, and S aspects to 10,700 ft.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Nearly every northerly facing avalanche slope that we were close enough to have good views of slid naturally overnight. Where we traveled, most of the terrain was relatively small and slides were D1 to D1.5, one D2. It appears most of Climax Chutes also ran, generally D1.5 to D2.
Weather: Light snowfall through most of the day, with a couple of brief pulses of moderate snowfall. Gusty northwest winds in the afternoon were blowing snow at all elevations. Cold temps.
Snowpack: Widespread collapsing on northerly aspects; some muffled, some rumbling. Shooting cracks on many slopes. The only steep terrain that we felt comfortable traveling on, and without signs of instability, were recent bed surfaces, low elevation southerlies (which were previously bare and without fresh drifting), and dense trees. About 2 to 3 feet of storm snow.
Did this cycle flush the basal facets? In the bedsurfaces that we traveled on, there was a crust or roughed up stiff layer on the sliding interface, with more weak facets below. Enough to provide some structure for modest loading, but I don’t think we’re out of the woods because there are still weak layers hanging on. Time will tell, but I think this cycle only shaved off the top half of our weak layer where we traveled.

Date of Observation: 12/10/2021
Name: David Bumgarner

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: We thought by leaving later that someone would put in the skin track but ended up getting a great workout putting it in ourselves!
We went up the usual skin track in the forest and saw a large amount of instability (huge shooting cracks and lots of collapses).

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: We got out to the ridge and skied close to the trees between convex corner and 1st bowl. We had lots of cracks near the top (Photo) and remotely triggered a D2 slide in 1st bowl (photo).
Weather: Overcast throughout our tour. periods of light snow (S1).
Snowpack: Sketchy! New snow needs to settle just to feel less punchy.

Date of Observation: 12/10/2021
Name: Eric Murrow Ben Pritchett

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Kebler Pass

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Observed one natural soft slab avalanche on a northwest-facing slope at 10,150′. Visibility was socked in, so very little opportunities to see recent avalanche activity.
Weather:

• Ridgeline Wind Speed: 20-30 mph
• Ridgeline Wind Direction: W
• Wind Loading: Moderate
• Temperature: 12 F
• Sky Cover: Obscured
• Depth of New Snow: 27 in
• Depth of Total Snow: 51 in
• Most Significant Precip Rate: S2 – 2 cm/hr
• Weather Description: One brief bit of broken skies around 10am, then it socked back in. Snowed S1-3 throughout the day without any breaks from 10am-3pm. Measured 51″ of storms snow which held 4.5″ snow water equivalent at Kebler Pass.

One brief bit of broken skies around 10am, then it socked back in. Snowed S1-3 throughout the day without any breaks from 10am-3pm. Measured 51″ of storms snow which held 4.5″ snow water equivalent at Kebler Pass.
Snowpack: Very deep, right-side-up storm resting on a very weak faceted base. Collapsing was rampant, but muffled. No cracking seen. ECT’s broke while isolating the block on size 10-15mm surface hoar, then gouged into facets.

Photos:

Date of Observation: 12/10/2021
Name: Alex Banas

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Standard Uptrack for Coneys. Descended the first treed ridge in Coneys propper.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: SS-ASc-D1-I
SS-ASy-D2-I
Weather: OVC skies, moderate down valley westerly winds, cold. H2D 5cm HST 70-100cm elevation dependent.
Snowpack: Widespread cracking and collapsing up to 20m infront of skis. 15-30cm of large-grained facets sitting below 70-100cm HST, Increasing with elevation. In the basal facets there looks to be a deteriorating 1cm MFcr that is faceting out. No mid-storm instabilities observed.

Date of Observation: 12/10/2021
Name: jeff banks

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Snodgrass up track & some <30º shots in the glades

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches:
Weather: 18F dropped to 15F during midday tour
Snowpack: Shady Aspects: Can’t move without shooting cracks, HS ~80-100cm,

Sunny Aspects: No Signs of Instability, HST ~60cm, From the surface it’s F resistance to 4F at the ground, 4 Distinct Layers (Dry/Moist/Dry/Moist) Un-reactive on small slopes 30-43º

Date of Observation: 12/10/2021
Name: billy barr

Zone: Southeast Mountains

Weather: Two mornings ago i walked to work, and this morning it took longer than that just to dig out and get to the station in front of my house. –It snowed all day Thursday but generally light snowfall, though dense. It picked up late day and became heavy after dark and continued until around 5 a.m. Wind picked up some but never strong, thankfully. The 24 hour new snow total was 19½” with water of 1.62″ and snowpack has now reached 27½” deep- this after recently completing 10 consecutive days of breaking the records for the shallowest snowpack. Temperature remains moderate with yesterday high of 29F and the morning low and current of 18F. Wind is very light right now and cloud cover is obscured but currently not snowing. Welcome to winter.