Wet avalanches near town and wet snow at Irwin

CB Avalanche Center2014-15 Observations

LOCATION: Crested Butte and Kebler Pass Areas
DATE OF OBSERVATION: 03/19/2015
NAME: Zach Guy
SUBJECT: Wet avalanches near town and wet snow at Irwin
ASPECT: North East, East, South East, South, West
ELEVATION: 9,000 to 12,000 feet.

 

AVALANCHES: About 5 new wet avalanches ran yesterday or the day before on Gibson Ridge’s ENE face near town, below treeline. Some were slabs, some were wet loose, and all gouged to the ground, ranging from D1.5 to D2. WS/WL-N-R2-D1.5/2-G
Several very small wet loose and blocks of slab ran today above banks of Coal Creek, NE aspects BTL. Harmless in size and no more than 8 feet of propagation.

WEATHER: Clouds increased from few to broken through the day, with a short period of graupel in the afternoon. Temps rose to 39 degrees at 10k.

SNOWPACK: 2″ of new snow insulated wet snowpack from much of a refreeze last night. On Southeast, South, and West aspects at Irwin from 10k to 12k elevation: Boot penetration was waist deep and/or to the ground from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, with wet grains through the entire snowpack. Ski pen deteriorated through the day, changing from fully supportive to punchy knee deep or deeper by the afternoon.
Stability tests producing sudden collapse failures on facet layers above and below the February 20th crust, about 40 to 50 cm deep, on both SE and W aspects near treeline. Water pooling at this crust, which was very wet.

UPLOADS:

Mountain Weather March 19, 2015

CB Avalanche CenterWeather

Date: 03/19/2015

The chance for light snowfall will return today as another northwest shortwave phases with moisture funneling in from the southwest. We are on the western edge of this interaction, so don’t expect any significant accumulations. Thankfully, any precip should fall as snow today as last night’s cool front left colder air in its wake. Clear and dry weather return on Friday and Saturday before another weak system arrives on Sunday.

Skier triggered wet slabs in Climax Chutes

CB Avalanche Center2014-15 Observations

LOCATION: Crested Butte Area
DATE OF OBSERVATION: 03/18/2015
NAME: Public
SUBJECT: Skier triggered wet slabs in Climax Chutes
ASPECT: North East
ELEVATION: Below treeline

SNOWPACK: Skier triggered wet slab in Climax Chute yesterday. Middle to lower elevation of the chute.

Skier triggered wetslab in Climax Chutes near Slate River

Skier triggered wetslab in Climax Chutes near Slate River

Large Wet Loose Avalanches in Evans Basin

CB Avalanche Center2014-15 Observations

LOCATION: Crested Butte Area
DATE OF OBSERVATION: 03/18/2015
NAME: havlick
SUBJECT: Large Wet Loose Avalanches in Evans Basin
ASPECT: East, South East
ELEVATION: 9000-10000

 

AVALANCHES: Several large wet loose avalanches gouging down to ground below E-facing cliff bands. Entrained quite a bit of snow, pushing size 2 range. not quite wet slab, but did propagate horizontally a bit more than the classic triangular shaped wet loose activity.

WEATHER: overcast, scattered rain and snow showers. warm temps, light west winds

SNOWPACK: Quite warm, unconsolidated snow, punchy. melt water continues to advance, but quite variable, from full depth in shallower areas to 6-10″ in others.

UPLOADS:

Mt. Axtell

CBAC2014-15 Observations

GUIDE(S): Donny

DATE: 15-03-18

LOCATION: Axtell / Green Lake
ELEVATION9100’ to 11,800′
ASPECT: Mostly north and northeast with a few pitches of southern aspect
WEATHER: 0945 @ 10,000’ – Low angle, north aspect – Overcast, flurries, light wind, 4ºC, SkiPen: 5cm
1100 @ 10,800’ – Ridge – Broken sky, calm, 4ºC, SkiPen: 5cm, BootPen: 20cm
1230 @ 11,600’ – Top of Couloir – Overcast, S-1, light wind, 4ºC, SkiPen: 5cm, BootPen: 5cm
1400 @ 11,800’ – Top of second couloir – Overcast, S-1, light wind, 3ºC, SkiPen: 15cm, BootPen: 30cm (to ground)
SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Skied moist and wet snow all day.  Felt a few “whumpfs” in flat terrain as surface crust collapsed.  When sun would break through for a moment a greenhouse effect could be felt and rollerballs and pinwheels would be present immediately. This was never prolonged.  No other signs of instabilities.  I probed during the entire climb of a north facing couloir.  Average depth was less than a meter and it obviously slid quite a bit during the previous storm cycle.  The snow is dense and consistent throughout the snowpack.  Surface was “hot pow” and didn’t want to run down hill.  On the way home, south aspects were completely isothermal and the north facing glades were wet.

Mountain Weather March 18, 2015

CB Avalanche CenterWeather

Date:

Warm and moist air is being drawn from the low pressure system today as it moves inland from Baja. A shortwave from the northwest will provide cooler air and an increased chance of snowfall this afternoon into tomorrow, althoughy accumulations look to be light. The rain/snow line will hover near 9,500 to10,000 feet today and start to lower overnight. Conditions will dry out by Friday and Saturday.

Wet slab avalanches

CB Avalanche Center2014-15 Observations

LOCATION: Kebler Pass Area
DATE OF OBSERVATION: 03/17/2015
NAME: Zach Guy
SUBJECT: Wet slab avalanches
ASPECT: East, South East
ELEVATION: Near/ Above treeline

 

AVALANCHES: Explosives triggered one wet slab, about 200 feet wide and 1 foot deep on a SE aspect near treeline. WS-AB-R2-D2-O

Second hand observations:
1)Wet slabs on skiers right of the Lady? Maybe Coon too? Hard to say, but looked like 2x D2 in Coon, maybe 40 m wide? Roughly the same in the Lady with a second pocket on the lower bench.
2.) Wet slab avalanche on an East aspect of Whetstone Mtn.

WEATHER: High of 52F at 10k. Light winds. Few clouds.

SNOWPACK: Ski pen increases from the top 5 cm late morning to nearly full depth by the afternoon. Around 3 p.m., we skier triggered one shooting crack on a SE aspect at 11,800 ft,  10 feet wide and about a foot deep, failing on wet grains. The slab moved downhill 6″ but stopped.

UPLOADS:

Mt. Emmons

CBAC2014-15 Observations

GUIDE(S): Donny

DATE: 15-03-17

ACTIVITY: BC Skiing

LOCATION: Red Lady Bowl and Evan’s Basin

ELEVATION: 9200’ to 12,400’

ASPECT: SE-S-SW

WEATHER: 11:30 @ 11,200’ – SE Aspect: Clear, 6ºC, light wind from south, T20: 0ºC, SkiPen: 5cm, BootPen: full leg;
12:30 @ 12,400’ – Summit: Clear, 8ºC, moderate wind from south, T20: -1ºC, Ski Pen: 10cm, Boot Pen: 10cm
14:30 @ 11,800’ – SSW Aspect: Mostly sunny, 11ºC, calm, T20: -2ºC, SkiPen: 5cm, BootPen: 10cm

SNOWPACK/AVALANCHE OBS: Evidence of recent wet slab activity on multiple faces, mostly SE aspects. Climbing up through and above RLG I found mostly wet snow with free water present on SE aspects. SW/W aspects clearly get hot in afternoon as they are all runneled. Skied far skier’s left of RLB and found 5 to 10 cm of wet snow over still cold (-2ºC). At 12:45 it was moist and dense, but not yet wet. Surface produced insignificant surface sliding and a handful of rollerballs and pinwheels.

White Mountain

CB Avalanche Center2014-15 Observations

LOCATION: Crested Butte Area
DATE OF OBSERVATION: 03/17/2015
NAME: Kirk
SUBJECT: White Mountain
ASPECT: East
ELEVATION: 13401

 

AVALANCHES: N/A

WEATHER: Bluebird Morning temp at @ 7:15 23F light wind from the north

SNOWPACK: Solid as a rock .. spring supportable . 10:30 am Due East was good to go from the top all way to bottom . lower elevations were getting soft much later could be hating it .

UPLOADS:

Mountain Weather March 17, 2015

CB Avalanche CenterWeather

Date: 03/17/2015

Spring Break 2015 remains in full effect today, with mountain temps climbing from 30’s this morning to the high 40’s or low 50’s. The large scale weather pattern begins to change this afternoon. The low pressure system that has been parked off of Baja for the last week will move inland, bringing warm, moist air overhead. A shortwave dropping from northwest tonight will bring more lift and colder temps to help kick off the potential for snowfall. Additional energy and moisture will boost the chance for snow Wednesday night into Thursday. This system is complex and we might get surprised, but it doesn’t look too exciting for snowfall accumulations,