Zone: Northwest Mountains

Location: Upper Slate

Date of Observation: 11/10/2020

Subject: Welcome back winter!

Aspect: North East, East, South East

Elevation: 9700-11,600′

Avalanches:

None observed. Limited visibility of alpine terrain.

Weather: Broken to overcast skies. Moderate northwest winds at ridgetop. Very light snowfall (S-1).

Snowpack: Simple snowpack with minimal signs of instability. 15″ to 18″ of right-side-up storm snow across previous bare ground. Previous drifting from the southwest had left drifts up to 3′. Shifting winds were lightly redistributing the snow off of northerly aspects this afternoon. In a few wind drifted features, we produced stubborn cracking up to 10″ deep and 8′ long. We went sniffing for a persistent slab problem on shady aspects here but couldn’t find direct feedback. On a northeast aspect at 11,000′, we found old faceted and crusty snow near the ground, but it wasn’t propagating in pits and didn’t produce any obvious signs of instability (see photo). The layer was only an inch thick on the ground and somewhat discontinuous here due to rocks and shrubs.

Photos:

Zone: Northwest Mountains

Location: Gothic Campground

Date of Observation: 11/09/2020

Subject: Gothic 11/9

Aspect: North East

Elevation: 9,500

Avalanches:

none

Weather: Temps in the 20’s with intermittent down valley winds. Snowfall ranged from S-1 to S2 with an additional 1.5 inches of accumulation from noon to 3 pm

Snowpack: 8-10″ total snowpack. We did see cracking and some slumping of the very new snow which was surprising given the F to F+ hardness of the snowpack. Snow at the ground was moist and easily created snowballs.

Photos:

Zone: Southeast Mountains

Location: Coneys

Date of Observation: 11/10/2020

Subject: pow on facets

Aspect: North East

Elevation: 11,000

Avalanches:

Not really. Was able to stomp on some baby cornices and get some small cracks.

Weather: Pretty cold, medium windy.

Snowpack: between 6-12 inches fresh, soft snow on top of .25-1″ of facets. Top layer not very cohesive, didnt propagate long cracks.
Dug a sloppy ECT, sheered cleanly when i shovel pulled it. Collapsed itself when i hammer tapped it. ECT 20something.

Zone: Northwest Mountains

Location: Elk Mtns and Ruby Range

Date of Observation: 10/29/2020

Subject: October flyover

Snowpack: See photos from October 29, 2020 flight.
CBAC note: The additional week of dry, warm weather following this flight and prior to the November 6th storm further melted snow coverage back, especially on E, S, and W aspects.

Photos:

Zone: Northwest Mountains

Location: Drove to the Rock Slabs parking lot just before Emerald Lake in Gothic Valley. In Slate drove to Pittsburg.

Date of Observation: 11/08/2020

Subject: Roadside drive up Gothic and Slate River

Aspect:

Elevation:

Avalanches: Saw one relatively thin slab avalanche in extreme / cliffy terrain in the north bowl on Gothic Mountain.
Date Location/Path # Elev Asp Type Trig SizeR SizeD
View 2020/11/08 † Gothic 1 >TL N SS N R1 D2

Weather: Ridgeline Wind Speed: 10-20 mph
Ridgeline Wind Direction: SW
Wind Loading: Moderate
Temperature: 25 F
Sky Cover: Overcast
Depth of New Snow: 20 cm
Depth of Total Snow: 20 cm
Weather Description: Snowing at sunrise, skies broke through AM hours, then clouds increased and cloud bottoms dropped to near peak height through the early afternoon. Snowfall began again around 3-4pm.

Snowpack: Snowpack Description: Snow depth in the valley bottom near Crested Butte was around 3-5″, nearing a foot as we approached Schofield Pass and Pittsburg. Second hand report of 12″ in the townsite of Irwin measured by a reliable observer.
Forecast BC Danger Level: Moderate
Observed BC Danger Level: Low in the majority of the terrain seen. Mostly ice and a bit of new snow on dirt.
Changes that would raise danger to high: 2+” SWE

Photos:

Zone: Northwest Mountains

Location: Slate River to Paradise Divide to Schofield Pass

Date of Observation: 11/06/2020

Subject: Early season snow coverage

Weather: Mild temps, mostly cloudy skies, light winds.

Snowpack: Shallow coverage (a few inches or less) of late October snow remains on northerly aspects (NE, N, NW) near and above treeline. Snow coverage is mostly melted off on E – S – W aspects. On high, shady aspects, the thin snowpack is weak: 2mm, fist hard facets.  On warmer slopes, the snow is capped by a melt-freeze crust of varying thickness. Because of the thin snow coverage, the weak layer is discontinuous on a majority of northerly terrain, interrupted by clumps of grass, talus, etc. However, some of the smoother alpine bowls or heavily shaded pockets near treeline have relatively continuous coverage. Start zones such as Redwell Basin on Emmons, Halloween Bowl and Emerald Bowl on Baldy, and the slopes above Purple Bench are examples of the latter. See photos for various examples through the terrain.

Photos: