Location: Crested Butte Area
Date of Observation: 02/03/2018
Name: Ben pritchett
Subject: Copper creek
Aspect: North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West
Elevation: 9,500-12,200’
Avalanches:
3x WL-N-R1D1.5–I on South aspects above treeline off the ridge between Copper Cr and Virginia Basin.
Weather: Blustery day. Scattered snow showers before to, gorgeous mid day, and developing greybird in PM. Blowing snow in the alpine all day.
Snowpack: Below 10,000’ on sunny slopes the snowpack got wet, even saturated and isothermal on some features. Very strong influence of free water on the sunny sides with small fresh loose wet avalanches, even above treeline. Crusty surfaces on anything kissed by the sun under 11,000, and sun crusts we’ll into the alpine on southeast to west aspects.
North winds over the last week raked the alpine, leaving northerly bowls stripped, often down to talus.
Found decent skiing in alpine northeast to east terrain, with no collapsing or cracking. An inch of new snow last night drifted into dramatic leopard skin and tiger stripe textures with radically different ski quality based on local drifting patterns. Slabs were faceting and thinning on their margins.
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