Blower, Cotton Fluff, Total Goose Down Bro

Location: Kebler Pass Area
Date of Observation: 02/06/2020
Name: Evan Ross & Eric Murrow
Subject: Blower, Cotton Fluff, Total Goose Down Bro
Aspect: North, South East, South
Elevation: 10,000-11,500ft

Avalanches: Skier triggered a few very small Wind Slabs with crowns up to 35cm. Also a couple very small Storm Slabs in the late afternoon failing within the recent snow.

Weather: Moderate northwesterly winds and blowing snow in all exposed terrain. Snowing S1 to S2 all day. HST was 11″ at 3pm with .48SWE

Snowpack: Impressive very light new snow, definitely representing the definition of blower. Interestingly, even many of the wind-loaded terrain features, where the feathers had been tossed about on there journey to that resting place, were just as low density. So more of a sluffing avalanche problem was encountered and more often than expected. We did find some very soft slabs on other wind-loaded terrain features were we were able to pop a few very small Wind Slabs. These were running both in the new snow, and some down to the 2/4 interface. This will all change with the continued wind and forecasted snow.

Conditions were still blower in the afternoon, but the top 6-8″ of feathery precipitation particles were just starting to crack and buckle as small Storm Slabs releasing on smaller precipitation particles below. One of these Storm Slabs initiated off a skier triggered sluff and propagated surprisingly far on a south-facing slope. Conditions sure will get interesting tomorrow.