Date of Observation: 03/05/2022
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Slate River rd out to Pittsburg.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Lots of Loose avalanches in the storm snow at all elevations – small in size. Numerous small slabs breaking in the storm snow below treeline – small in size. Observed a debris pile below Climax Chutes on far lookers right end that may have been close to a D2 but could not see start zone well enough to make sense. East face of Cinnamon appeared to have a slab avalanche below the cornice but I wasn’t able to identify with confidence.
Weather: Light snowfall from 10 to 1pm and intermittent snowfall with some sunshine between 1 – 330. Winds remained light below treeline, but I could hear it blowing at upper elevations.
Snowpack: Near Pittsburg, 18″ of very low-density storm snow. Winds below treeline were light with some evidence at valley bottom of transport overnight. A few glimpses into alpine terrain revealed transport near and above treeline on to leeward east aspects. Sheltered terrain had a Loose Dry avalanche problem and a few features, gently kissed by the wind, produced cracking up to 20 feet, but behaved much like a Loose Dry avalanche due to low-density storm snow. Stability test on northeast slopes below treeline produced no results. Looking at the February weak layer on a slope that did not avalanche during last week’s natural cycle showed increased hardness (4 finger) and rounding but remains much weaker than the overlying slab. Traveled through a northeast-facing slope that avalanched at the end of last week’s natural cycle without signs of instability but the February weak layer was still present. An east-facing slope had a 3-4cm melt/freeze crust beneath the storm snow.
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- A profile of the upper snowpack on a northeast slope. No signs of instability with the storm snow resting on a thin crust from last weeks warm temps. The February weak layer is gaining strength and improving but remains much weaker than the overlying slab which is now a bit more than a meter thick.
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- Evidence of wind-drifted snow on the south side of Cinnamon and a tangent view an avalanche on the east side beneath a cornice.
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- Evidence of avalanche activity on the south side of Mineral Point. Uncertain if Loose avalanches or small slabs.
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- An example of the many Loose Dry avalanches in the storm snow.
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- One of the numerous small Storm Slab avalanches below treeline.
