Date of Observation: 10/27/2021
Name: Eric Murrow

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Purple Ridge area

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: none observed, but limited visibility
Weather: Mostly cloudy skies with very light snowfall through 3pm. Moderate winds with strong gusts at ridge top from the northwest. Snow transport was visible across alpine terrain all day.
Snowpack: Storm totals ranged from 4 inches at valley bottom at 9,700′ to 11 inches at treeline. I traveled between 9,700′ and 12,000′ on east and northerly aspects. Below treeline I only found old snow beneath the recent storm on northerly aspects. All northerly slopes below treeline showed soft crusts and facets below the recent storm snow (see photo). Not enough new snow to form an avalanche problem on sheltered, northerly terrain below treeline. No cracking or collapsing.

I traveled on easterly aspects near and just above treeline and commonly found a stout melt/freeze crust directly on the ground with 10″ to 24″ of windblown storm snow resting above (see photo). I was able to produce a few cracks running up to 30 feet in drifted snow but cracks were shallow in just the top few inches of storm snow. Probing revealed a few isolated locations immediately below ridge top that had facet/crust combinations below the recent storm, but in this area, they were only found in old drifts.

Photos:

Date of Observation: 10/27/2021
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Emerald Bowl. Traveled on E and NE aspects to 11,800′

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A natural cycle of avalanches, D1 to D2 in size, came off of Baldy’s Emerald Bowl sometime in the past 12 hours. Likely wind slabs, although the start zones were already blown smooth again. Also a small windslab ran today on Bellview.
Weather: Cold and blustery. Moderate to strong northwest winds were actively transporting snow all day at all elevations. Mostly cloudy skies with a few light snow showers.
Snowpack: Several red flags pointed towards dangerous conditions at upper elevations today: fresh naturals, active windloading, storm totals approaching 12″, and shooting cracks in wind drifted slopes. Drifts were generally 2 to 3′ thick, up to 4F hard. In windsheltered(ish) terrain, I did not see evidence of storm slab instabilities; no cracking, and no unstable test results. The 8″ to 12″ of storm snow was fist hard, right-side-up on top of fist hard, 1mm facets (NE aspects) or crust/facet sandwiches or just homogenous crusts (East aspects).

Date of Observation: 10/24/2021
Name: billy barr

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Gothic Townsite

Observed avalanche activity: No
Weather: Snow went all night with generally light snowfall but dense with 4″ new and 0.37″ water. The snowpack is 4″ deep. Cloudy and very warm with the overnight low 30F, which is the current. Wind picked up around 6:45 but snow has seemed to stop.

Date of Observation: 10/22/2021
Name: Zach Guy and Eric Murrow

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Paradise Divide, generally traveling on N and NW aspects near and above treeline.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: A small wet loose avalanche from recent warm temps.
Weather: Mild temps, thin scattered cloud cover. Light winds and no blowing snow.
Snowpack:  This snow surface will be a future weak layer. In the Northwest Mountains, continuous snow coverage has survived on the northern half of the compass on most near and above treeline slopes, with thinner coverage below treeline. In the Southeast Mountains, coverage is also thinner with more ground roughness breaking up the continuity. The photos below exemplify current coverage. Near and above treeline, we found the snowpack has faceted throughout on shady aspects: 1 mm F to F+ facets. Snow depth on shady aspects is about 10″ on average, with drifted areas up to 2 feet deep. The snowpack structure is entirely faceting on due north, with one or several thin crusts near the surface on NE and NW aspects. The snowpack transitions towards a homogenous layer of melt-freeze grains on west aspects. On southern aspects, coverage is spotty on all but the most snow-favored peaks in the Ruby Range.