Check on the P-Divide Avalanche

Date of Observation: 02/15/2022
Name: Evan Ross

Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Slate River to Paradise Divide.

Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Headed up to the previously reported avalanche on Paradise Divide for a little check-in since it didn’t quite fit the mold. This avalanche failed on a thin crust capping 1mm, very soft, faceted grains over harder 1F hard faceted grains. The slab above was P+ hard. As reported, the crown was in fairly low angle southerly facing terrain.

After closer inspection, this appeared to be a monster wind wale that failed on a weaker than average south-facing snowpack due to the lower angle of the terrain. The fetch for this avalanche is massive, square mile range. The fetch from the paradise divide area has created a number of hard slabs that have loaded into the SE to SW facing slopes below the pass.

In a location near the crown, on a steeper 35 degree south-facing slope, without the recent wind loading. The surface crust was 3 to 4cm’s thick, with large percolation column extending into the facets. The snowpack here was only about 100cm’s deep and didn’t have much layering given the lack of storms this winter.

I didn’t encounter any obvious signs of instability while traveling on the margins of some of the other hard slabs in the area. Once you were out on the slabs there was no way the weight of a human was going into the snowpack given how hard the snow now is. However if you did manage to find a trigger point you could get a similar result to this avalanche. The snowpack has most likely become quieter since the last party had come through this area.

Weather: Mostly cloudy, with a nice break in the clouds early afternoon for things to both warm and soften up. Overcast by late afternoon. Warm and breezy.

Snowpack: Snow surface obs between 11,500ft and 10,500ft. Westerly slopes were made up of large-grained facets in some areas, and a 2cm crust capped the facets in other areas. A slight change in slope angle or aspect allowed for the crust vs straight facets. SW and SE aspects had a slightly stronger crust but still very concerning with a load. On south facing slopes, the crust was in the 3 to 4 cm range with big percolation column going down into the facets. Not much layering in this snowpack given the few storms this winter and dry 2022…