Date of Observation: 04/25/2023
Name: Whitney Gilliam
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Skooks main skinner!
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches:
Weather: Cloudy, warm, off and on precip
Snowpack: Noticed lots of water in the snowpack ~1ft+ down in the snowpack while breaking trail… hard to say if it was because of rain or a poor freeze. Didn't think too much of it, but near the skooks bench I experienced two large wumphs/collapses and decided to turn around :)
Date of Observation: 04/22/2023
Name: Mark And Turner
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: AMR, playground
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Intentional windlip/cornice triggered small storm slab south anthracites which ran full track. Video on insta, freeze frame below.
Ski triggered thin wind slab east facing top of y chute which ran 500 ft or so. See photos.
Skied north facing below tree line with no other signs of instability
Weather: Intermittently heavy snow and sun, with some afternoon graupel. Light winds, cool air temps
Photos:
Date of Observation: 04/22/2023
Name: Evan Ross
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: NE-E-SE 9,500-11,500. Purple Ridge Area.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: At 1pm, wet loose avalanches were reactive on NE and E below 11,300ft. These were generally small, but where they could run and accumulate mass they became large in size. We skier triggered several small wet avalanches and one become large in size. Another party had triggered more wet avalanches in similar terrain.
Weather: Convective snow showers with some moderate winds and drifting snow during those periods. The greenhouse was in full effect.
Snowpack: Recent storm totals were around 20 to 25cm at 11,000ft. Less snow at lower elevations and more snow at higher elevations… On the lee side of Purple Ridge, the drifts were a couple of feet thick. It was difficult to assess how far the thicker drifts extended into the slopes below. Wind slabs felt stubborn, but there was a notable lower-density layer of snow near the bottom of the drifts.
Snow surfaces become moist to wet on the sunny aspects, and thick/moist on northerlies BTL.
Photos:
Date of Observation: 04/19/2023
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Kebler Pass road up to Scarp Ridge.
Observed avalanche activity: No
Avalanches: none
Weather: Light snowfall with obscured views. Strong southwest winds.
Snowpack: At 330pm, storm totals were less than 2 inches. Snowfall rated increased as I left the area. Strong winds blasted the snow towards leeward terrain features. The lowest-elevation terrain, below 9,500 feet, snow surfaces were soft from mild-ish temperatures but did not pose a loose avalanche threat. I dug a quick hole on a north-facing slope immediately adjacent to Crested Butte and found meltwater had drained 2+ feet into the snowpack. There was still some free water present. I do not expect this to create any avalanche concerns; I was simply checking on how deep meltwater has drained on the warmest north-facing slopes.
Date of Observation: 04/17/2023
Name: Evan Ross
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Baxter Basin, North to 12,000ft.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Difficult to tell if there have been more natural loose wet avalanches since yesterday. Nothing notable stood out.
Weather: Few clouds, hot, calm wind.
Snowpack: Due north was dry and provided great skiing with minor sluffing in steep terrain. Just about everything else was looking hot and not inviting in the afternoon. NE slopes had gone through a shed cycle where they were steep and rocky. Lower elevation NE slopes had a shiny appearance from a distance.
Photos:
Date of Observation: 04/17/2023
Name: Evan Ross
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Poverty Gulch near Pittsburg.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: This avalanche was previously reported and ran on 4/12.
This wet slab was triggered by a wet loose avalanche from above. In total, it ran 800 vertical feet, though the slab only ran about 400ft. It was surprisingly destructive. In the debris there were many aspen trees, maybe 30 to 50, and there were about 10 mature pine trees. This slope had several wet loose avalanche events in the couple of weeks before it ran as this wet slab.
Photos:
Date of Observation: 04/16/2023
Zone: Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Coneys
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Triggered on the rollover at the end of coneys. 11 am ish
Date of Observation: 04/16/2023
Name: Turner Petersen
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Skied 2 laps on the s tube and down to our sleds via camo glades.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Kicked off a very small wind slab maybe 15 feet wide on my entrance ski cut that ended up entraining my Sluff. Ran maybe 800ft. Wouldn’t bury you but wouldn’t be fun. Took place skiers left of s proper.
Weather: Sunny
Snowpack: Cold 7” on northerlies.
Date of Observation: 04/16/2023
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Purple Ridge to 12,200′. Easterly and northerly aspects.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Numerous small wet loose avalanches ran at all elevations, predominantly on east and southeast aspects this morning (D1s). A few reached around to NE aspects BTL. These all ran on the dust/crust layer. We skier triggered a couple of similar avalanches and observed other skier triggered slides as well. Skier triggered one hot wind slab that entrained wet loose snow on a crossloaded gulley below treeline (D1).
Weather: Light ridgetop winds, minor transport. Clear skies. Springlike temps.
Snowpack: Settled storm snow depths ranged from 4″ to 8″, notably redistributed by wind in this area.
Targeted a few windloaded test slopes and could only get localized cracking with no releases, until we got one wind slab to pop later in the day in a steep chute. Drifts were up to 2 feet thick below large fetches, but the cracking was occurring on a mid-storm layer about 6″ to 8″ deep.
Mid to high northerlies stayed dry, with wet loose activity beginning mid-morning on easterlies. The 4/14 interface stayed frozen and supportive to ski pen through midday.
Date of Observation: 04/16/2023
Name: Zach Guy
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Viewed from Slate River Road and Purple Ridge.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Schuylkill Ridge saw a wind slab cycle (averaging D1.5) on crossloaded terrain from Northwest winds yesterday. Several other soft slabs above treeline ran during or after the storm yesterday.
