Date of Observation: 01/25/2023
Name: Irwin Guides

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Upper Upper Westwall mitigation work.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Shallow wind slabs (4-6″ deep) ATL on W aspects specific to terrain features. Large HE tests in the New World produced cracking to the ground in loaded pockets in the Thimble. In Thread/ Needle the AB only released surface snow which picked up enough speed to almost run full track. 1 large collapse with 3# covershot in the entrance to Thread.

Date of Observation: 01/25/2023
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: The southern side of Ruby Peak to 12,000′.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Intentionally triggered a fresh wind slab that was about a foot thick and 40′ wide, D1 in size, on a windloaded east aspect near treeline. Triggered several other minor pockets on small features.
Weather: Light snowfall, light to moderate winds with periods of blowing snow. Cold temps.
Snowpack: Sensitive fresh drifts ranged from 3″ to 12″ thick, with frequent localized cracking and occasional collapses and shooting cracks on drifted features. Some slabs were cracking on precip particles, some were on a layer of near-surface facets that formed during the recent dry weather.
A profile targeting a relatively shallow slope similar to the one that avalanched on Ruby a week ago produced unreactive test results. The slab was about 5 feet deep, up to pencil hard near its base, on 1F- rounding facets (1mm).

Date of Observation: 01/25/2023
Name: Travis Colbert

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Standard up track on the SE end of Schuylkill ridge. Descended to the valley floor just north of Snake in the Grass or Snakey (or whatever it is called). 9,200-11,400ft; mostly NE aspect.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Ski triggered a very small windslab (6″ deep, 20′ wide) on a steep rollover in open terrain (obviously wind affected snow) on one of the lower benches (9,800 feet). No big deal, but could have been a bigger deal in more consequential terrain. We also saw a moose!

Date of Observation: 01/24/2023

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Toured from gravel pit

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: We saw and heard no signs of instability except near tree line on wind exposed ridges. Small natural shallow releases on steep slopes. Nothing significant.
Weather: High clouds, light west winds and cold temps.
Snowpack: 120-150cm. Mostly uniform on the tour. Supportable mid pack. Pole probing showed a small weaker layer near the ground but we did not effect it on our ski or skin. Ski penetration was 20-30cm

Date of Observation: 01/24/2023
Name: Zach Guy

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Red Mountain below treeline

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Did not travel near avalanche terrain.
Snowpack: See attached pit from a below treeline, NE facing slope. Moderate sudden collapse, propagating results below a 4F slab on both the mid-December weak layer (1-1.5 rounding facets) and 11/28 layer (3-5 mm depth hoar), both fist hard. Total snow depth here is 95 cm.

Date of Observation: 01/22/2023
Name: Zane Wasicko

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Skinned in Washington Gulch to do some beacon practice. Now real skiing.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Small slide on South West aspect of Gothic near tree-line. Didn’t see it happen but saw a crown. Pretty small but though may as well submit

Weather: Clear am, cloudy pm. Sunny. Cold. Not too windy

Date of Observation: 01/22/2023
Name: Evan Ross

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: West and East. 10,000ft to 11,800ft.

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: Small sluffs. Not enough to be problematic and more a sign of the good snow quality.

Weather: Clam wind. High thin clouds slowly built in, becoming partly cloudy around noon and overcast later in the afternoon.

Snowpack: Thank you Ullr, the snow is still really good in some places, after yesterday’s northerly winds. We didn’t travel into the high alpine where snow surfaces could have been more wind affected. On this tour, snow surfaces were delightfully soft.

We started and finished the day on an east aspect between Ruby and the Dyke. The total snowpack depth was deep. The only potential concern was lingering wind slabs near ridgeline. We didn’t end up encountering a wind slab problem where we gained the ridge.

Off the west side, the snow surface in the first hundred feet was a little wind pressed, then it became soft and well-preserved powder from the last cycle. Those precipitation particles near the snow surface were still fairly large and had not decomposed much. At 10,000ft on the west side of the Dyke, the total HS was 170cm on a 10 degree west facing slope. Between 10,000ft and 11,800ft the HS varied dramatically in this location. Both due to past wind events and perhaps old avalanche activity that is no longer visible. Either way, we encountered no signs of instability while skiing and climbing steep slopes.

Date of Observation: 01/23/2023

Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Long tour below timberline on W-N-E slopes. Two consecutive days. ~6 miles

Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: No new avalanches. Small crowns buried from at least a week ago.

Weather: Cold, calm, sunny

Snowpack: No obvious signs of instability beneath the skis. No observed instability on surrounding mountains. Supportive Sun crusts on west faces. Dry cold surface on N-SE slopes