Date of Observation: 01/02/2022
Name: Zach Guy and Zach Kinler
Zone: Northwest Mountains and Southeast Mountains
Route Description: Early a.m. flight circling most of the outer boundaries of the forecast area.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: We documented widespread persistent slab activity on north to east aspects above treeline in the Northwest Mountains, ranging from D3 to D4 in size. Most peaks in the Anthracites, Ruby Range, and near Paradise divide produced at least one destructive avalanche. The Southeast Mountains had fewer and smaller slides, generally D2.5 to D3.5 on the same aspects above treeline. There were a handful of persistent slabs on west aspects and southeast aspects as well. Very little activity on south and southwest aspects. Most of the activity that we documented was fresh enough that it likely ran during the 12/31 storm. There was clearly older debris from earlier in the week that is too obscured to document accurately. There were a few persistent slabs in the Southeast Mountains that ran as recently as last night or the day before, caused by windloading. We will be uploading photos and coding activity into our database over the next couple days. Until then, this link has photos of activity. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1Ecn5VY0f8MxaUjHjxu5TUvjq0KTdefoc