Date of Observation: 03/09/2017
Name: Zach Guy
Aspect: North East, East, South East, South
Elevation: 10,000-12,350 ft.
Avalanches: Observed about 20 skier triggered and natural wet loose avalanches, mostly D1 to D1.5 in size, although a couple were large enough to bury someone. These were primarily on steep and windsheltered E to SE to S aspects NTL. It seems higher elevations got so blasted by winds that the surface was too dense or crusted for wet concerns under today’s weather. See photos.
Weather: Warm, few/scattered thin clouds. Light winds.
Snowpack: On SE to S aspects NTL, there was 3″ to 10″ of very wet to slushy snow over a firm frozen crust, sliding easily steep slopes.
A pit on a NE aspect NTL showed a mix of hard propagating and non-propagating results on facets below a crust about a foot deep. (ECTP22, ECTN x 3, PST 80/100 END). Above treeline, it looked like a number of suspect northeasterly slopes saw some amount of persistent slab scouring during the recent extreme wind event.
Skier triggered “slub” in action.
D1.5’s. SE aspect NTL
D2 SE aspect NTL.
S aspect NTL. Slow moving skier triggered wet loose avalanches, D1.5. Some failed with a little slab-like propagation.
NE aspect ATL. Old persistent slab crown visible in the shadows. Note the slab erosion textures across much of the face.
D1.5 SE aspect NTL
Mix of non and propagating results on buried faceted crust 30 cm deep. PST 80/100 END shown here.
D1.5, S aspect NTL.